Sara Rostanski
Sara Rostanski, MD
Associate Chief of Neurology
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
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Building a World Class Stroke Center
Dr. Sara Rostanski has made an indelible mark on NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue since her appointment as the director of the Department of Neurology’s stroke program in 2018. Under her leadership, the program developed a neuro-ICU for complex stroke patients as well as an advanced outpatient clinic – two of the advances that have made Bellevue the only NYC Health + Hospitals facility, and one of the few public hospitals in the country, certified by The Joint Commission as a comprehensive stroke center.
“Thanks to Dr. Rostanski’s efforts, patients who suffer potentially life-altering strokes often walk out of the hospital a few days later,” says Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nate Link. “She is the epitome of Bellevue’s mission.”
As Associate Chief of Neurology, Dr. Rostanski has a leadership role in all aspects of the service, and she’s credited with drawing other stroke and critical care neurologists to the programs she established at Bellevue. A native New Yorker and 2010 graduate of NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Rostanski is an assistant professor of neurology at the school and an attending physician at NYU Langone.
Dr. Rostanski developed her interest in stroke during her neurology residency fellowship at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center. She completed a two-year vascular neurology fellowship at Columbia, including a year as a National Institutes of Health StrokeNet Fellow. She was also in a training cohort at NYU’s Center for Stroke Disparities Solutions before she brought her passion to Bellevue in 2016.
“My goal was to build a world-class stroke center at Bellevue,” she said. “Flash forward six years, and after a lot of hard work with a dedicated multidisciplinary team and a tremendously supportive hospital administration, we obtained The Joint Commission certification. It was a validation of the high-quality stroke care we provide at Bellevue for patients throughout the health system.”
Dr. Rostanski’s accomplishments at Bellevue have been lauded by her colleagues in the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s neurology department. Last year, they presented her with the department’s Innovator Award for her pivotal role in transforming the stroke and neurocritical care services at Bellevue.
“Stroke can be a devastating diagnosis,” Dr. Rostanski said, “and the ability to provide high quality and complex care for all patients, across the spectrum of care, regardless of their ability to pay, is a tremendous privilege. To work with hospital administrators and leaders who value equity and justice in health care is an honor.”