Illinois Department of Public Health surveyors sited eight strengths of the Blessing Hospital Trauma Program and no opportunities for improvement after a recent survey. As a result, Blessing has earned re-designation as a Level II Trauma Center through January 30, 2021. The re-designation certifies the ability of the Hospital and skills of its staff in caring for traumatically injured patients.
A trauma patient is one who has sustained specific injuries, including penetrating injuries to head, neck, chest or abdomen, and/or shows signs of shock. A patient could also be declared to have suffered trauma based on the force involved in their injury or the way they were injured. This would include falls over 20 feet, certain motor vehicle accidents occurring at greater than 40 miles an hour, persons ejected from a vehicle, or pedestrians hit by cars.
Blessing maintains the trauma program as part of the region’s health care safety net. The Institute of Medicine defines the health care safety net as those providers who organize and deliver a significant level of health care and other related services to uninsured, Medicaid, and other vulnerable populations. The health care safety net is vital to the health of the communities Blessing serves. The hospital is the only provider in the region who offers these critical services.
Among the strengths of the Blessing Hospital trauma program sited by state surveyors were collaboration between surgeons, emergency department physicians and subspecialty services related to trauma care and a low transfer rate of trauma patients to other hospitals.
“Providing a strong trauma program is a foundational element of Blessing’s care. It’s one of the reasons we exist,” said Maureen Kahn, RN, MHA, MSN, President/Chief Executive Officer, Blessing Health System/Blessing Hospital. “While we are blessed with a lower level of violence in our communities than experienced by urban residents, there are a variety of reasons a strong trauma program is vital to the health of the communities we serve.”
“In this region agriculture is king, and with that comes the dangers inherent to farming,” she continued. “We also love to hunt, spend time on the river and lakes, ride four wheelers and travel the many two-lane roads that wind through our region. Accidents happen and when they are severe, a strong trauma program saves lives.”
Blessing Hospital treated 348 trauma patients in 2018.
A Level II Trauma Center meets strict state guidelines regarding available medical equipment and staff qualifications. Trauma Centers provide comprehensive care, and as part of the State’s trauma communications and transportation network, can quickly transfer patients, if needed, to the facility providing the level of medical care most appropriate for the case. As sited by state surveyors, Blessing Hospital has a low transfer rate, demonstrating the ability to care for most trauma cases occurring in the region.
Trauma care most often begins when a critically injured person arrives in Blessing’s Emergency Center. Providing emergency care at Blessing, around-the-clock, are nearly 90 professionals including 11 emergency physicians, the majority of whom are Board certified in Emergency Medicine, and 53 registered nurses, 23 of whom hold Illinois Trauma Nurse Specialist certification.
In addition, Blessing must ensure that trauma surgeons are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond within 30 minutes of the arrival of a trauma patient. Orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons on the Blessing Hospital Medical Dental staff are also often called upon to provide care to trauma patients.
Christian Zwick, DO, is the Blessing Hospital Trauma Service Medical Director and Michael Richard, RN, BA, serves as Blessing Hospital Trauma Coordinator.
Blessing was among the first hospitals to join the State’s Trauma Center program when it began in 1988.