Former city mayor in HUP after stroke

Former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode suffered a mild stroke yesterday afternoon and was admitted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Goode, who served as the city's first black mayor from 1983 until 1991, experienced a transient ischemic attack, according to Donald Silberman, chairman of the Neurology Department at HUP. He said that in the attack, which lasted only a few seconds, the slowing of blood in the right side of Goode's brain provoked mild symptoms of a stroke. After arriving at HUP complaining of numbness on the left side of his face, Goode, who is 55, was admitted at 12:30 p.m. to undergo preliminary tests. Silberman said this was done to ensure that Goode's condition would not develop into a stroke. "The symptoms disappeared over a few hours," said HUP spokesperson Rebecca Harmon last night. Harmon added that Goode will stay in the hospital overnight. He is expecting to be released this morning. "Everything appears OK," Harmon said. "When I talked with him, he was in excellent spirits." According to Silberman, Goode will undergo blood tests tonight and will be given aspirin as a coagulant. "We don't know the whole story yet, but odds are if we continue administering aspirin he should be all right," Silberman said. "The probability of this re-occurring is very low." Goode will be fitted with a HOLTER cardiogram today, Silberman said. The cardiogram will verify that his cerebral condition is not related to any irregularities in heart rhythm. Goode received international media attention after approving the 1985 bombing of the radical group MOVE's headquarters in West Philadelphia. Eleven people died and 60 houses burned down in the bombing. He is also the author of the book In Goode Faith.