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Northside Hospital Announces Go-Live of Tele-Stroke Program

By: | Tags: | November 4th, 2014

St. Petersburg, FL (November 4, 2014) Northside Hospital is proud to announce the start of a new tele-stroke program with Telespecialists, LLC, a leader in remote telemedicine physician services. A collaboration that has been developing over the last four months, this innovative program rolled out on November 3, 2014, and will improve patient and physician access to neurology expertise within minutes of presentation of stroke symptoms.

Stroke is the leading cause of disability and number four cause of death in the United States, and delay in recognition of the symptoms and signs of stroke have limited the use of effective treatment applications. Hospitals have been looking to novel, state-of-the-art ways to reduce time to treatment in acute stroke. Telespecialists, LLC brings neurological expertise to the bedside within minutes of recognition of a Stroke Alert, in an effort to foster better outcomes for all stroke patients.
We are excited about the opportunity to enhance Northside Hospitals stroke program and work with the team there to create a world-renowned comprehensive stroke center, said Adam Heller, MD, Chief Operating Officer of Telespecialists, LLC. We commend Northside Hospital for recognizing the future of healthcare where technology is leveraged to improve patient outcomes in many specialties.
Our number one goal continues to be improving the long-term well-being of our patients, and this program will enhance our current neurological offerings as a Comprehensive Stroke Center and aid us in doing just that, said Dia Nichols, FACHE, CEO of Northside Hospital. With this program, we will be able to ensure that no matter the time of day or night, strokes will be diagnosed quickly and accurately, so that treatment can begin as soon as possible.
About Northside Hospital

Serving the community since 1976, Northside Hospital is a 288-bed facility, offering a full range of services including interventional stroke care, full-service orthopedic and spine treatment, a 24-hour emergency department, preventative and corrective cardiac care, and general surgery. As the only Comprehensive Stroke Center in St. Petersburg, our technologically advanced facility allows our superior physicians and nursing staff to care for our growing community. With campus-based specialized units, such as the Tampa Bay Heart Institute, and the Neuroscience Institute for Interventional Neuroradiology and neurologic care, Northside Hospital continues to enhance and expand its services to better serve the St. Petersburg community.For more information about Northside Hospital, visit our website atwww.NorthsideHospital.comor visit us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/NorthsideHospital.
About Telespecialists, LLC
As a provider of physician services, Telespecialists, LLC brings a unique perspective to the world of telemedicine. From emergent consultations to follow-up services, Telespecialists aims to coordinate care at hospitals and communities where gaps in specialty coverage exists. Born out of the tele-stroke and teleneurolgy service lines, Telespecialists has a wide variety of physician expertise ranging from areas that include neurology, psychiatry, pulmonary/critical care medicine, and podiatry. In addition to clinical services, Telespecialists also can provide consultative services for improving work flows and patient outcomes in their areas of specialty. For more information please visit telespecialists.com or contact their main office at (239) 208-2206.
For More Information:

Aimee Bennett, Marketing Director

Northside Hospital, Marketing & Public Relations

6000 49th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709

Phone: (727) 521-5265, Fax: (727) 521-5007

Nattasha Acevedo, MD

Dr. Acevedo received her medical degree from the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico and did her neurology residency at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. She went on to do a clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Emory School of Medicine in Atla nta, Georgia and then joined private practice in Fort Myers, Florida. She currently resides in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She likes running, paddle boarding and spending time with family.
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Bernadette Borte, MD

Dr. Borte received her medical degree from St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine in Grand Cayman. She completed her neurology residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa. Her areas of interest include inpatient neurology and acute stroke. When not working, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family. Dr. Borte joined the TeleSpecialist family in March of 2019.
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Mazen Almidani, MD

Dr. Almidani is board certified in pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics and board certified in epilepsy, as well as neurology with special  qualification in child neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.  Dr. Almidani is happily married with 4 children. His oldest son has autism and his daughter has complicated seizures; both were a drive for him to become a neurologist. Dr. Almidani enjoys soccer, running and spending time with his family. He is very involved with his sons’ therapy and helping with daily challenges. He is double board certified in Pediatric and Adult Neurology and Epilepsy. He sees children and adults. He also participates in charities for children in Syria who may be underprivileged and/or affected by the war. Dr. Almidani joined TeleSpecialists in August 2020.
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Amanda Cheshire, MD

Dr. Cheshire received her medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky. She completed her neurology residency at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. She did a fellowship in neurophysiology at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Cheshire is double board certified in neurology and clinical neurophysiology. She enjoys traveling, reading and music. She currently resides in Viera, Florida.  Dr. Cheshire joined TeleSpecialists in June 2019.
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Jessica Floyd, MD

Dr. Floyd completed her neurology residency at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida followed by fellowship training in clinical neurophysiology with focus in EEG and epilepsy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. She has particular interest in hospital neurology and patient education as well as the blossoming specialty of lifestyle medicine. She strives to take advantage of every encounter with patients and medical staff to empower them to do their own research into how daily thoughts, choices, and habits can add up to create greater and longer-lasting brain and neurologic health for ourselves and our loved ones. She lives in Florence, South Carolina with her awesome husband of 13 plus years and three beautiful children. She is an avid yogi, astrologer, and lover of food and all things neurology! Dr. Floyd joined the TeleSpecialist family in July 2017.
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Nancy Futrell, MD

Dr. Futrell received her medical degree from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also did her neurology residency at the University of Utah as well as a research fellowship in cerebral vascular disease at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. She currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has authored 2 books and 50 peer reviewed papers. 
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Rebecca Jimenez-Sanders, MD

Dr. Jimenez Sanders received her undergraduate degree from Emory University, and her medical degree from the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine in Puerto Rico. She completed her neurology residency at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, where she also did a specialized headache medicine and facial pain fellowship. She currently resides in Tampa, Florida with her husband and her two daughters. She is also fluent in Spanish and Italian languages, and enjoys photography, baking, boating, and biking.
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Cory Lamar, MD

Dr. Lamar received his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He completed his internship and residency at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Following residency, he completed a clinical fellowship in neurophysiology, with a concentration in epilepsy. He currently resides in Florida and enjoys outdoor activities.
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Clifford Meyers, MD

Dr. Meyers received his medical degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and his MBA from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. He completed his neurology residency at the University of Rochester, where he also did a neurophysiology fellowship. Dr. Meyers resides in Webster, New York with his wife and daughter. When not doing teleneurology, he enjoys playing sports with his wife and daughter.
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Tao Tong, MD

Dr. Tong received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. She completed her neurology residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, where she also did a neuromuscular/EMG fellowship.  She currently resides in College Station, Texas. Dr. Tong is married with two boys. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and reading.
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Shubhangi Chumble, MD

Dr. Chumble attended BJ Medical School. She is a board certified neurologist with a subspeciality interest in sleep medicine. Dr. Chumble did her residency at Howard University in Washington DC and has practiced neurology since 2001 in private and corporate settings. She lives in Melbourne, Florida and loves the sunshine state. Her hobbies include yoga, meditation, cooking , traveling and meeting new people. She also loves to do stained glass, pottery and painting. She joined TeleSpecialists in June 2019.
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