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San Jose Hospital Begins $30 Million Upgrade And Expansion

SAN JOSE (KCBS)- San Jose's Good Samaritan Hospital will begin a $30 million expansion project next week that will include construction of dozens more patients rooms and an ICU unit for those with neurological illnesses.

Stroke is a common cause of disability and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

The hospital's CEO Paul Beaupre said if you have stroke symptoms like slurred speech, blurred vision or inability to move, that you should get to a hospital right away.

KCBS' Betsy Gebhart Reports:

"At most facilities if you don't get into the hospital within three hours there's really nothing that the facility can do for you any longer," said Beaupre, but he added that Good Samaritan is exceptional because it has increased the window of stroke treatment from three to eight hours.

At the new facility staff will be able to administer intravenous TPA, a blood thinning agent, to try to break the clot as well as going in and retrieving the clot, according to Beaupre.

Good Samaritan, one of the first nationally recognized stroke centers, is now equipped with a helipad which will allow for stroke patients to be brought in from all over California.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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