PROVIDENCE ST. VINCENT MEDICAL CENTER – After 25 years with Providence, leading and expanding stroke care, stroke neurologist Dr. Ted Lowenkopf has retired. His last official day was Dec. 31, 2024.
After completing a stroke fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Lowenkopf joined Providence in 2000, creating the Providence St. Vincent Stroke Center and serving as medical director. Right away, he began his mission to improve stroke prevention and treatment.
In 2001, Dr. Lowenkopf received a $1.4 million grant to create a registry of stroke outcomes to track and study data with the goal of advancing treatment. From 2001-2023, he created and led the Providence Stroke Clinical Trials Program, publishing multiple papers and doing international presentations on more than 50 clinical trials.
Stroke center certification
In 2004, Dr. Lowenkopf shepherded the Providence St. Vincent Stroke Center through its first stroke center certification – a rigorous evaluation of our stroke team, use of advanced imaging, protocols for patient care and our commitment to continuous improvement. Providence St. Vincent was the first hospital in Oregon to receive this distinction. Since then, the stroke center has been recertified five times, followed by comprehensive stroke center certification in 2014.
Changing stroke care across Oregon
In 2010, Dr. Lowenkopf changed the delivery of stroke response and care in the state of Oregon. He implemented the Telestroke network, bringing world-class stroke care to small, community hospitals where patients are evaluated right away, virtually. Providence’s Telestroke network has since expanded to 17 sites statewide.
Elite stroke care
In 2013, Dr. Lowenkopf became chair of the Oregon State Stroke Committee and in 2014, he led the Providence St. Vincent Stroke Center to comprehensive stroke center certification. This signifies our abilities to treat the most complex stroke cases including advanced procedures like minimally invasive clot removal – essentially, the highest level of stroke care available.
Since Dr. Lowenkopf started with Providence, initially as the lone stroke neurologist, the Providence stroke team now includes seven stroke doctors, three nurse practitioners and two patient navigators. Starting with only 350 patients per year, the Providence St. Vincent and Providence Portland Stroke Center teams now care for 2,500 stroke patients every year and virtually care for all Providence acute stroke patients in Oregon and patients at 13 other hospitals.
John Zurasky, M.D., medical director of Providence Brain and Spine Institute, says Dr. Lowenkopf helped transform stroke care in Oregon and across the country. When he joined Providence, stroke was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and it is now the fifth.
“The collaborative abilities with an expanding team met the urgent needs of all these patients. And Ted will be the first one to point out that all this was done alongside many equally dedicated and excellent colleagues,” Dr. Zurasky said. “But I believe the number of lives and improved outcomes for so many people that needed our care at critical moments was truly possible because of Ted’s collaborative and humble leadership. He has made an indelible impact on stroke care and lives will continue to be saved and improved because of him."
From Dr. Lowenkopf: A word of thanks to all whom I've been fortunate to work with and learn from.
The most meaningful work in my life has been the moment when I was able to help a patient. Nothing has been more gratifying to me than taking a hand reaching for assistance and providing a solution or simple reassurance. “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,” Matthew 20:27. I have been so lucky that my career has been a rich tapestry of those moments of service, human connection and healing.
Those “moments” in health care require a large, integrated community of skilled people who care. Thank you to the thousands of nurses, (one of the hardest jobs in health care), rehab therapists, EVS caregivers, techs, HUCs, transfer center personnel, EMS providers, discharge planners, clinic staff, transport personnel and pharmacists – without whom, those moments could not have taken place.
Thank you to my stroke and neurocritical care colleagues whose dedication and teamwork maintained the highest standard of stroke clinical care over my 25 years with Providence.
Thank you to all the ED docs, interventionalists and radiologists who made possible acute stroke treatments in which life-changing, severe disability vanished or was minimized. Thank you to all the clinicians who were there when our stroke patients needed help beyond our neurologic expertise.
Thank you to all the research folks I have worked alongside seeking to establish new stroke care standards. And thank you to Providence administration and clinical leaders for having the vision to create our stroke program in 2000 and for providing the resources for it to grow and excel. I am grateful to have been a part of this health care family that has made this a great and enriching chapter of my life.
And deep thanks to my amazing wife and kids for the years of joy and support that I came home to each day.
I hope that you all find meaning and renewal in continuing to care for the most vulnerable.
Ted
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