The Emergency Center at Lawrence General Hospital has been reverified as a Level III Trauma Center by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. This achievement recognizes the hospital’s dedication to providing optimal care for trauma patients. The Emergency Center at Lawrence General was the Merrimack Valley’s first Level III Trauma Center. The verification process takes place every three years.
“Lawrence General is proud to serve the region in all manner of critical medical emergencies,” says Dianne J. Anderson, RN, Lawrence General president and CEO. “Our Emergency Center and trauma team are called upon in dire circumstances, responding at all times of day and night when there are patients in need. This recognition of our exemplary Trauma Program is particularly poignant this year, in light of the medical emergencies our community faced as a result of the gas fires and explosions in September. I congratulate those emergency and trauma doctors and nurses and the teams who are saving lives and enabling patients to return home to their families.”
The American College of Surgeons trauma center verification program 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-hospital phase through the rehabilitation process. The actual establishment and the designation of trauma centers is the function of local, regional, or state health care systems agencies, such as the local emergency medical services authority.
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 over 72,000 members and it is the largest association of surgeons in the world. Longstanding achievements have placed the ACS in the forefront of American surgery and have made it an important advocate for all surgical patients.
Lawrence General Hospital is a regional, independent, nonprofit hospital. With more than 260,000 inpatient admissions and outpatient encounters annually, Lawrence General ensures access to the high-quality care, the latest technologies, and more than 550 local providers, including primary care and many specialties, delivering caring and personalized treatment. A designated Level III Trauma Center, Lawrence General has one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Massachusetts, offers a broad range of specialty surgeries in its new Santagati Center for surgery, and leads the region in cardiac care with its highly accredited cardiovascular center. It has clinical affiliations with Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. It offers services from its main campus in Lawrence, as well as from locations in Andover, North Andover, and Methuen, MA and Salem, NH. For more information, visit www.lawrencegeneral.org.
