White Memorial Medical Center has been recognized for its stroke services and has become certified by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center. The hospital is one of only 12 facilities in Los Angeles County that has qualified for this designation, which requires ambulances with suspected stroke victims to go to facilities certified as Primary Stroke Centers. To qualify for the designation, hospitals are required to use best practice protocols for treatment of stroke, and a neurologist and CT or MRI scanner must be available around the clock. In addition, laboratory tests of stroke patients must be completed within 45 minutes of being ordered.