The Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center of New Jersey

In all those years, the people who lived between New York City and Philadelphia had recourse to these two cities for better health services.

Now, the corporations that are located in New Jersey are trying to fill this gap by making serious investments.

Capital Health System, which operates in the capital of New Jersey; Trenton, and also the city of Hamilton, is in the lead of those corporations that want to provide patients the health services they need without the necessity of traveling to New York City or Philadelphia. Capital Health System is expanding its operating area.

Lately, Capital Health System, with an investment of $30M, opened its Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center. The hospital aims to fulfill the needs of brain patients in the area.

These recent additions to the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center of New Jersey are part of Capital Health’s $30 million investment to bring the latest advances and highest quality treatment of aneurysms, AVM’s, strokes, intracranial stenosis and other critical conditions involving the brain to central and southern New Jersey and Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
 
At the age 38, holding the title of being the youngest department director in the history of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Dr. Erol Veznedaroglu, within two months after he started (the interview was conducted in the second week of February) at the Capital Health System, says they took care of nearly 100 patients and performed 60 operations. Dr. Veznedaroglu can perform up to 6-7 operations a day.       

Dr. Veznedaroglu performed 5,000 operations last year with his team at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He mentions that he came from an environment where there was a high patient traffic into an environment where the patients are treated with more specialized care. He says, “This is the kind of place I have always wanted to work. When you work in a university hospital and with that many patients, it becomes impossible to give more time to each of your patients. The service we provide here is very special.”

“Patients throughout our region have been looking to major cities such as Philadelphia and New York City to get the highest level of care and advanced treatment for strokes and other life-threatening brain conditions,” said Al Maghazehe, CEO & President of Capital Health. “With the acquisition of this advanced equipment and the addition of Dr. Veznedaroglu and Dr. Liebman to our staff, the same quality of care is available at Capital Health.”
When he was asked if making a new start at a new hospital after leaving the busiest brain surgery department in the world had carried risks, Dr Veznedaroglu answered, “It did, absolutely!” However, he says that he admired the vision and plans of Capital Health System CEO & President Al Maghazehe for the hospital. Veznedaroglu mentions that having been a doctor for the last 15 years, he follows the principle of every patient being treated equally. He adds that he wants the Cerebrovascular Center of New Jersey to be the first address to go for the patients of brain illnesses in the area.             

The young doctor says that he has patients not only from Central New Jersey and its surrounding area but also other states of the U.S. He mentions that the hospital carries all the necessary equipment in order to serve the patients coming from Turkey in the best way as well. What makes Trenton more attractive is the fact that it is more affordable than New York City, especially for the patient’s relatives, considering hotel and the other costs. Veznedaroglu says, “When it comes to health, money is not the first priority, but we have competitive special care, service and treatment methods for the patients.”

THE DOCTOR SON OF DOCTOR FATHER
Erol Veznedaroglu is one of three children of doctor parents, Muhtesem & Kincal Veznedaroglu. His father Muhtesem Veznedaroglu is a graduate of the Medical School of Istanbul University. After having completed his army duty, he first arrived in Canada without knowing English at all, then moved to the U.S.. Muhtesem Veznedaroglu married Kıncal Veznedaroglu whom he met at the hospital he was working at in Denver. Erol Veznedaroglu says he could never tolerate the difficulties that his father, who worked as a doctor in upstate New York for nearly 30 years, faced in the years he immigrated to the U.S.. Erol Veznedaroglu says he was raised as an American by Turkish parents and he stresses the contribution of his family to his success. Erol Veznedaroglu is married and has two children, a son and daughter.      

ABOUT CAPITAL HEALTH
Capital Health is a 589-bed acute-care teaching hospital located in Trenton, New Jersey. Capital Health, which is comprised of two hospitals and an outpatient facility, offers centers of excellence in neurosciences, maternal child health, cardiology, dialysis, trauma services, and oncology.
In October 2008, Capital Health announced that its Fuld hospital had received the highest possible ratings for the treatment of stroke by HealthGrades, the healthcare ratings company. Capital Health is the only hospital in the Tri-County area of Mercer, Burlington and Camden counties to be ranked among the top 10% in the nation for treatment of stroke, a ranking it has earned for the past two years in a row.