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Texas Health Plano designated an Advanced Level III Trauma Facility
By Kim Nguyen, knguyeN@acnpapers.com
The Texas Department of State Health Services recently designated Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano as an Advanced Level III Trauma Facility, recognizing the hospital’s multi-disciplinary trauma team.
Dr. John Josephs, medical director of the hospital’s trauma program and trauma surgeon on the hospital’s medical staff, said the designation means the hospital is staffed by physicians and health care professionals with advanced trauma training. Level III trauma centers provide care for patients who have experienced injuries resulting from automobile accidents and patients who have significant cardiac, medical or surgical emergencies. Advance planning, which includes written agreements with the leading referral hospitals, ensures that no delay occurs in the transfer process. As a result, Level III centers are a seamless part of the state’s most advanced trauma systems.
This designation assures patients that the hospital has a dedicated team of doctors with a wide spectrum of specialties – including board-certified, fellowship-trained trauma surgeons and orthopedic trauma surgeons – offering highly specialized care to patients. It also means the hospital is equipped to provide comprehensive emergency medical services to patients suffering such life-threatening injuries as falls, motor vehicle accidents and assaults.
“This is a huge step for the hospital,” Josephs said. “It raises the bar for the entire hospital staff and sets a new standard.”
In order to be designated a Level III advanced trauma facility a hospital must meet a high level of monitoring for quality and reporting on trauma cases set by the American College of Surgeons. Level III facilities, such as Texas Health Plano, must have resources available for emergency resuscitation, surgery and intensive care of the vast majority of trauma patients, with transfer agreements with Level I or Level II centers for the care of exceptionally severe injuries such as major burns, crush injuries, spinal cord transections or re-implantation of amputated extremities. They also must demonstrate injury prevention and control programs, outreach activities for their local communities, and education programs for nurses, physicians and allied health care workers involved with trauma injuries, Josephs said.
“Texas Health Plano meets and many times exceeds the requirements for a Level III facility, primarily because of the hospital’s demonstrated commitment to attracting key specialists for the care of injured patients,” he said. “The experience of the medical staff, many of whom have been at the hospital for numerous years, ensures that injured patients will receive optimal trauma care, provided in their own community.”
Before either Texas Health Plano and Medical Center of Plano achieved the designation, major trauma patients would have had to been transported to medical centers in Dallas for treatment. Earning the title as Level III trauma facility shows that Collin County hospitals are able and willing to take care of their own, Josephs said.
“Achieving the Level III Trauma designation is a testament to the skill and expertise of our team of clinicians, nurses and physicians on our medical staff,” said Dr. Jeffrey Canose, president of Texas Health Plano, in a statement. “We are proud of the time, energy and commitment it has taken to attain this position and offer this level of trauma care to the North Texas community we serve.”
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