AREA HOSPITALS St. Joseph and TMH become trauma centers

Trauma centers provide higher levels of care than regular emergency rooms.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- St. Joseph Health Center and Trumbull Memorial Hospital were designated provisional adult Level 3 trauma centers this week, according to Michael Glenn, state trauma director of the Ohio Department of Safety.
Trauma centers -- ranging from the highest, Level 1, to the lowest, Level 3 -- provide higher levels of medical care for trauma patients than regular emergency departments.
A Level 1 center is a regional facility that can provide care for every aspect of injury, according to officials at St. Elizabeth Health Center, a Level 1 trauma center.
Level 2 centers provide most types of trauma care, but may not have all the surgical specialties available to handle severely injured patients.
Level 3 centers provide basic trauma care, but must transport severely injured patients, including those that require highly specialized surgery because of head injury, amputation or other significant injury, to their designated Level 1 trauma center, officials said.
Glenn said his department and the Ohio Department of Health received verification of the hospitals' provisional Level 3 trauma status from the American College of Surgeons.
Designated itself
TMH designated itself as a provisional Level 3 trauma center late in March but withdrew the designation when St. Elizabeth Health Center officials questioned its validity because it came so quickly after inspections at TMH and St. Joseph by ACS Trauma Committee teams.
TMH is part of the Forum Health medical system, along with Northside Hospital Medical Center in Youngstown. Forum Health and Humility of Mary Health Partners, which includes St. Joseph in Warren and St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, are competitors.
The trauma center is designed to increase the level of care patients receive, said Kevin M. Spiegel, chief operation officer of TMH.
Additional strengths of the trauma program at TMH include in-house anesthesia services, extensive EMS and paramedic professional education programs, a cardiac surgery program and convenient access to inpatient rehabilitation services, said Tim Richards, TMH emergency medical services and trauma coordinator.
The Level 3 trauma center is part of a $6 million emergency department expansion project under way at TMH.
St. Joseph officials said their designation as a provisional Level 3 trauma center follows a site consultation visit by representatives of ACS on March 15 and 16 and receipt of the official, written report from the ACS Committee on Trauma on May 11.
Level 3 trauma centers provide prompt assessment, resuscitation, emergency operations and stabilization of patients.
"Throughout this provisional period, trauma patients at St. Joseph's will receive care that meets national standards for Level 3 trauma centers," said Dr. Janet L. Shiley, trauma director at St. Joseph's.
alcorn@vindy.com