Eight-year-old Ben Graham from Blue Point loves playing more sports than you can count on one hand. It was February 17th of last year when the young boy was gearing up for what should have been a routine practice with friends and teammates.
“It was a Friday. Ben went to basketball practice with my wife and son,” recalled Ben’s father Bill.
“He was complaining about eye pain prior to practice. I looked at his eye. Didn’t see anything. He told me he had to throw up. Opened the car door. He threw up. We came home. Bill noticed right away how lethargic he was and noticed a facial droop,” recalled Ben’s mom Kate.
Ben was rushed by ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital. His frightened and concerned parents had no idea how devastating his prognosis was. Medical staff sought immediate consent for CAT scans. Despite their panic, hospital staff were both comforting and confident in how they would diagnose and treat Ben.
“Every person that spoke to us was calm and informative. Very caring,” said Kate.
“They didn’t talk down to us. They explained and answered all of our questions, and I had a lot of them. It felt like Ben was the only patient there,” added Bill.
The diagnosis was both devastating and life threatening. Ben suffered a ruptured Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM). In layman’s terms, his blood vessels became tangled and blocked blood flow to his brain. It is not only rare in kids but highly fatal. Ben’s surgery was successful.
“All the team at Stony Brook was absolutely amazing,” added Ben’s mom.
Now SBUH is being recognized across the country for that high quality of care experienced by the Graham family.
Healthgrades, an independent evaluator that reviewed more than 4,500 hospitals across America, ranked Stony Brook University Hospital as one of the Top 50 hospitals in the country. This Healthgrades ranking puts SBUH in the top one percent of all hospitals in the United States.
“The exceptional care found at Stony Brook is only possible when a hospital commits to the highest standards of quality and continuous improvement throughout the organization,” said Carol A. Gomes, Stony Brook University Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer.
Healthgrades reviews multiple medical data points to determine its rankings of hospitals. Mainly, they evaluated risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for more than 30 conditions and procedures.
“As one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals, Stony Brook University Hospital is elevating the standard for quality care nationwide and ensuring superior outcomes for the patients in their community,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Data Science at Healthgrades.
As for Ben, he’s up early every morning playing street hockey with his brothers and friends, and continues to play and participate in a number of sports including but not limited to lacrosse, soccer, and karate.
“Everybody at Stony Brook was so nice,” said Ben.