Choose St. Joseph Health for Leading-Edge Emergency, Trauma Care

February 14, 2020 Posted in: Blogs , English

When minutes and seconds count, you can rely on St. Joseph Health’s experienced, expert team to provide the fast, comprehensive care you need. As the region’s only Level II Trauma Center, Regional Hospital offers a high standard of care comparable to what you would expect from the country’s best trauma centers.

“It is the vision of Trauma Services to deliver compassionate, patient-centered, quality care utilizing an innovative team approach,” said Dr. Vincent Ohaju, St. Joseph Health Trauma Medical Director. “We understand that it takes a team of healthcare professionals to address the needs of trauma patients, and our team is highly dedicated and knowledgeable in taking on these tasks.”

Our Level II Trauma Center offers 24-hour immediate coverage by general surgeons and specialists in orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology, and critical care. Regional Hospital also offers in-house anesthesia and the fastest surgeon response times in our region for the most serious, life-threatening injuries.

The next time you or a loved one needs emergency care, consider St. Joseph Health for:

Our Fracture Program – We have two orthopedic surgeons stationed at Regional Hospital with 24-hour availability to treat complex fractures requiring care from a specialized team. Dr. Chris Henderson and Dr. Anthony Zissimos treat emergency cases and admitted patients alongside our general trauma surgery team. In addition to having expertise in caring for a wide range of traumatic injuries, Dr. Henderson has specialized training in an intricate surgical procedure that repairs the bones of the pelvic ring and hip socket. This procedure is only available at St. Joseph Health. Hand surgeon Dr. Darryl Peterson provides specialized treatment of hand trauma, including fractures and other injuries.
Neurosurgical Specialty – When surgery is the recommended treatment, you can trust our expert neurosurgical team. Our Mayo Clinic-trained physicians are known across the nation for their expertise and technical skills, upholding the highest standards.
Seamless Care – St. Joseph Health operates five trauma centers across our region, as well as ground EMS and air medical services, so our patients have access to leading-edge trauma care across nine counties. Our trauma centers and EMS care for more emergency and trauma cases, including stroke and heart attack, than any other health system in our region. Patients benefit from quick transfer of medical records across facilities and quality care that follows the same standards and protocols whether the patient is in our hospital or being transferred by Air Med 12 or EMS.
Multidisciplinary Approach – Regional Hospital goes beyond Level II standards by delivering a multidisciplinary team-based approach to care. Every day a trauma surgeon, trauma advanced practice clinician, and members of the dietary, pharmacy, physical/occupational therapy, and case management teams review charts and round on patients on the trauma caseload. This means that if you’re an elderly patient receiving care for traumatic injuries from a fall, you’re also being treated for any other conditions you may have, such as diabetes or hypertension. Our multidisciplinary approach is one extra step we take to improve your outcome and provide safe, quality care.
Community Focus – To promote health and wellness in our community, our team shares our expertise with first-responders across our region, offering a Rural Trauma Team Development Course (RTTDC) free of charge. Provided through the American College of Surgeons and led by our Trauma Services Medical Director, Dr. Vincent Ohaju, this course prepares first responders to take care of trauma patients when they may not have immediate access to medical resources. We also regularly invite first responders into the hospital to tour the trauma center, learn about the services we provide, and round on patients.