Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and Clinics in Wabasha was recently re-designated as a Level IV Trauma Center, per guidelines outlined by the Minnesota Department of Health.
To obtain the rating, Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s must comply with specific criteria, such as providing a basic emergency department, establishing transfer agreements with Level I or Level II hospitals, and being involved with community prevention efforts.
The Plainview News reports the hospital provides trauma training not only for Emergency Department nurses and providers, but also inpatient staff, should a traumatic event lead to a hospital admission. This training is one of the criteria to attain Level IV.
Re-designation happens every three years, and Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s has met the Level IV standard ever since the trauma level centers program began in 2010, so while the designation isn’t new, it’s a sign of how the hospital has evolved to meet the ever-more stringent guidelines that must be met.
In almost all cases at St. Elizabeth’s, patients who visit the hospital in emergency situations are cared for by trauma nurses and physicians before being stabilized and transferred to larger nearby facilities to receive a greater level of care.
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