Expanding Trauma Services Across Premier Health

By Candy Skidmore, vice president of service integration for emergency, trauma, CareFlight, and EMS Center of Excellence, Premier Health

Miami Valley Hospital as the most experienced Level I Trauma Center in the region and Atrium Medical Center as a level III Trauma Center have long been recognized as delivering high quality trauma care within Premier Health and across the region. However, the Emergency and Trauma Institute has been working to expand trauma services across the areas we serve to improve our trauma network and access.

Miami Valley Hospital South became a Level III Trauma Center in 2019 and will be completing its final verification visit from the American College of Surgeons this October. This second survey represents the last step in a stringent process to become a designated Level III Trauma Center in the state. Miami Valley Hospital South now provides an access point for the community and EMS providers to ensure patients needing trauma care have it available locally, but still allowing for patients with higher acuity trauma needs to be rapidly moved to Miami Valley Hospital via CareFlight or the MICU when needed. The response has been overwhelmingly positive from the community and EMS. Under the direction of Alyssa Gans, MD, MBA, FACS, trauma program medical director, and Beth Larson, RN, trauma program manager, the program continues to grow, ensuring outstanding care to trauma patients every day.

Additionally, Upper Valley Medical Center (UVMC) is currently in the process of becoming a Level III Trauma Center. Currently, there are no trauma centers in Miami, Darke, or Shelby counties. Under the direction of Prad George, DO, trauma program medical director, and Traci Knox, trauma program manager, UVMC just completed their initial visit from the American College of Surgeons in July. While the results will not be known for a few weeks, the feedback from the surveyor team was extremely positive, noting the very well-developed system approach to trauma and emergency services, the high-level quality review process in place, and the strength of the trauma program and leadership team at UVMC! We anticipate UVMC will officially be a designated trauma center this fall, adding to our Premier Health Trauma Network.

Ohio is a legislated trauma state, meaning for a hospital to label itself as a trauma center, it must meet the American College of Surgeons standards for a trauma center through a series of two site surveys by the college, correct any deficiencies through action plans, and receive approval from the State of Ohio to then be designated as a trauma center.

Learn more about Premier Health trauma services see our 2020 Annual Trauma Report.

Back to the August 2021 issue of Premier Pulse