RICHLAND, Wash.- Kadlec Regional Medical Center has been designated a level II trauma center, one of only two in eastern Washington.
“Kadlec and Providence are making a significant investment for the benefit of the community, and this is an investment that has real-world implications for people in the Tri-Cities and in Washington,” said Dr. Eduardo Smith Singares, Medical Director of Trauma and Emergency Surgical Services at Kadlec.
The Level II designation comes from the Washington Department of Health and means that Kadlec has the specialists, equipment and resources to treat trauma and critically injured patients. The only other Level II designated health center in eastern Washington is in Spokane.
Level II trauma centers provide definitive trauma care for a wide range of injuries and injury severity and also lead educational, leadership and disaster planning efforts in a region according to a press release announcing Kadlec’s recent designation.
The process to achieve Level II designation has been over a decade in the making for Kadlec, with the hospital assembling a team of specialists, including neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, trauma surgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons.
“It is a very rigorous process,” said Rebecca Hammons, Kadlec Trauma Program Manager. “It’s also important to note that it was not just our trauma team working on it. It was our nursing staff, imaging, lab, really all our departments. Nearly everyone invested time to achieve it.”
Kadlec’s Level II designation will also decrease the number of air transports that are necessary, which will save time when treating critically injured patients according to today’s press release.
