Mercy Medical Center verified as a Level II Trauma Center
February 11, 2013
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The trauma center at Mercy Medical Center has been verified as a Level II Trauma Center by the Verification Review Committee (VRC), an ad hoc committee of the Committee on Trauma (COT) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). This achievement recognizes the trauma centers dedication to providing optimal care for injured patients.
Established by the American College of Surgeons in 1987, the COTs Consultation/Verification Program for Hospitals promotes the development of trauma centers in which participants provide not only the hospital resources necessary for trauma care, but also the entire spectrum of care to address the needs of all injured patients. This spectrum encompasses the pre-hospital phase through the rehabilitation process.
Verified trauma centers must meet the essential criteria that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance, as outlined by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma in its current Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual.
We are proud to once again meet the stringent requirements set forth by the American College of Surgeons for Level II Trauma Center verification, said Thomas E. Cecconi, president and CEO at Mercy Medical Center. This month we embarked on an 18 month renovation and expansion project of our emergency department services to improve patient flow and increase patient satisfaction.
Mercy Trauma Center is home to the nations first accredited Emergency Chest Pain Center and Cardiac Catheterization Lab within an emergency department.
The ACS Committee on Traumas verification program does not designate trauma centers. Rather, the program provides confirmation that a trauma center has demonstrated its commitment to providing the highest quality trauma care for all injured patients. The actual establishment and designation of trauma centers is the function of local, regional or state health care systems agencies, such as the local emergency medical services (EMS) authority.
There are five separate categories of verification in the COTs program. Each category has specific criteria that must be met by a facility seeking that level of verification. Each hospital has an on-site review by a team of experienced site reviewers, who use the current Resources for the Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual as a guideline in conducting the survey.
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical education and practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College has over 72,000 members and it is the largest association of surgeons in the word. Longstanding achievements have placed the ACS in the forefront of American surgery and have made it an important advocate for all surgical patients.
