SPRINGFIELD— The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has re-verified Baystate Medical Center as a Level 1 Trauma Center, recognizing the hospital’s dedication to providing optimal care to injured patients.

Dr. Ronald Gross, Chief of Trauma and Emergency Surgical Services		BMC Trauma Center Staff: Front Row (L to R):  Eleanor Winston, MD, Leslie Muska, PA-C, Lisa Patterson, MD, Terri Swiencicki, RN, Pat Letourneau, RN, Leslie Ramirez. Back Row (L to R): Reginald Alouidor, MD, Karen Carrens, PA-C, Amy DeHoyes, Jamie Chapman, PA-C, Lorrie Casey, Jeffrey Schaff, RN

The ACS verification follows an intensive on-site review by the College’s Committee on Trauma, a team of veteran trauma surgeons, over two days in October. The review verified the Baystate Trauma Program’s Level 1 status based on a comprehensive set of criteria, including the number of injured patients treated per year; the skill and experience of physicians, nurses and other staff in the trauma center around the clock; the level of technology available to support care for injured patients, and the trauma center’s commitment to continuous improvement.

“We commend Baystate Medical Center for its demonstrated commitment to provide superior trauma care,”wrote Dr. Frank L. Mitchell III, chair of the ACS’s verification reviewing committee, in his letter of verification.

Dr. Ronald Gross, chief of Trauma and Emergency Surgical Services at Baystate Medical Center, stressed the importance—and the value--of going through the ACS verification process. “As the only Level 1 Trauma Center in western Massachusetts, we take very seriously our responsibility to provide the very best level of care to the injured patients that arrive here from all over the area. The ACS recognition lets our trauma patients know they’re getting the best, and that makes us proud.”      

In the U.S., trauma is responsible for more potential years of life lost for people under the age of 65 than all other diseases combined. A trauma patient can be defined as “an injured patient who requires timely diagnosis and treatment of actual or potential injures by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, supported by the appropriate resources, to diminish or eliminate the risk of death or permanent disability.”

As the only Level 1 Trauma Center in western Massachusetts, Baystate Medical Center treats the region’s most critically injured patients. Baystate’s trauma program works closely with the hospital’s emergency department, one of the busiest in New England, to bring the highest level of medical care to patients facing the gravest health crises.

Established by the ACS in 1987, the Verification/Consultation 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-hospitalization phase through the rehabilitation process.

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 59,000 members and it is the largest association of surgeons in the world. Longstanding achievements have placed the College in the forefront of American surgery and have made it an important advocate for all surgical patients.