Stroke Care

Our stroke team consists of neurologists, emergency-trained physicians, and specially trained nurses. They are prepared to quickly evaluate stroke patients and begin immediate treatment.

If the team determines a patient is having an ischemic stroke (caused when a blood clot plugs an artery in the brain), the neurologist may decide to use a drug called tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA. If administered within three hours of the first stroke symptoms, tPA can break up the clot and restore blood flow, oxygen, and nutrients to the brain. The stroke team can also deliver tPA intra-arterially within six hours. The intra-arterial process entails sending tPA straight into the clot site through a catheter.

After the stroke is stopped, the patient may require a rehabilitation process. We offer an on-site rehabilitation facility with inpatient and outpatient services. Our goal is to help our patients get home again as quickly as possible.

Stroke Services at Memorial University Medical Center
4700 Waters Avenue
Savannah, GA 31403
912-350-9948

Jay Howington, M.D., is a neurosurgeon and medical director of our stroke services. He grew up in Augusta, Georgia, and earned his bachelor’s degree at Vanderbilt University. Howington attended the Medical College of Georgia and completed an internship in general surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. He completed his neurosurgical residency training at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, including Charity Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and the Ochsner Clinic. He completed a fellowship in endovascular surgery in Buffalo, New York. Howington later moved to Savannah and became the first surgeon in the region to place an FDA-approved carotid stent. He actively participates in clinical research and teaches courses on endovascular and microsurgical techniques across the United States and in Japan and India. He practices at the Neurological Institute of Savannah, P.C.

Joel Greenberg, M.D., is a neurologist and co-medical director of our stroke services. He attended Princeton University and the University of Miami School of Medicine. Greenberg completed his residency training in internal medicine and a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He has authored numerous articles on neurological medicine and has presented lectures throughout the country. In addition to actively practicing at Savannah Neurology, P.C., Greenberg is assistant professor in the department of medicine at Mercer University School of Medicine.