Page 2 - The April 30 2026 Edition of The Fayetteville Press Newspaper

Page 2a The Fayetteville Press April 30, 2026 Edition

Dr. Mark Stephen Thompson, D.D.S.

(Family Dentistry)

114 Campus Avenue * Raeford, NC 28376
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Contact Information Dr. Mark Thompson
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The recent growth at Cape Fear Valley has
the biplane imaging system produces exquisitely detailed images of
been hard to miss, with the new School of Medicine blood vessels and blood flow in real time. This helps doctors like Dr.
rising over Village Drive and the Center for Medical Samaan to see precisely where a vessel is blocked or damaged and to
Education and Neuroscience Institute on Melrose Avenue. quickly treat the problem.
Dozens of clinics across eight counties now boast the Cape
Fear Valley name, along with schools of nursing and health “That will make a big difference in outcomes,” said Dr. Samaan. “We
at multiple local colleges and universities. will see less disability coming from strokes, shorter hospital stays,
less rehab time.”
But the meaning behind this expansion goes way beyond
brick and mortar. Each new development aims to bring Dr. Samaan’s work isn’t limited to strokes, of course, but they have
high-quality healthcare closer to home for southeastern been a major focus of his career. And because Fayetteville is nestled
North Carolina patients and their families. in the “Stroke Belt,” a portion of the United States where strokes are
more prevalent, his efforts will be especially meaningful at Cape Fear
“When we have the technology and the people we need
Valley.
to treat patients right here, we don’t have to send them
far away to Duke or UNC,” said Mena M. Samaan, MD, “We have a very susceptible community here,” he said, “with a lot of
Director of Neurointerventional Services. “That can make a vascular, cardiac and neurovascular problems. So we have been very
big difference in the outcome for those patients.” focused on bringing stroke care here to the next level.”

A board-certified neurologist, Dr. Samaan has advanced While settling in at Cape Fear Valley, Dr. Samaan has been
fellowship training in vascular neurology and endovascular impressed by the efforts to bring talented providers to the area and
neurointerventional surgery. His arrival at Cape Fear Valley to upgrade care across all the health system’s services. He said the
earlier this year represents a major upgrade to services biplane imaging system is a perfect example of the investments being
for complex cerebrovascular conditions such as stroke, made in a higher level of care for the region.
aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and carotid
“The quality team has been taking a great lead on improving the
artery disease.
patient experience,” he said. “There has been so much effort to make
“Basically, anything in the blood vessels from the neck up,” significant improvements and invest in the things we need. I have
he said. “With minimally invasive procedures, we can use seen great support from the administration, and it means a lot.”
imaging to find the problem and address it.”
Dr. Samaan said he was first drawn to his specialty by a desire to
It’s a big step forward for local care. Like most hospitals, solve complex problems, and he’s grateful for the opportunity to do
Cape Fear Valley has historically given emergent stroke that in a supportive environment with a great team and the right
patients a “clot busting” medication to restore blood flow, tools.
and then quickly transferred them to larger hospitals like
“That’s really what brought me to the endovascular field,” he said. “I
Duke for a thorough investigation and treatment of the
want to help these patients, to get them into a better position than
cause.
when they came in and get them back to their family and their life.”
“But as we say, ‘Time is brain,’” said Dr. Samaan. “Every
minute, about two million neurons die. So time is of the
essence, and it’s better not to spend that time going to
another hospital.”

Of course, this important work can’t be done without the
proper tools. Dr. Samaan is looking forward to the arrival
of a million-dollar machine that will help him to clearly
see the task before him. Using two rotating X-ray cameras, capefearvalley.com

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