1 Photo
Southampton Hospital is interested in becoming a Level 3 trauma center, which would enable it to stabilize severely injured patients before they are transported elsewhere to a Level 1 or 2 trauma center.
Hospital officials confirmed this week that the institution would like to attain such a status, but said that administrators are still looking into the requirements and have not yet submitted a formal application with the State Department of Health.
According to the Department of Health, Level 3 and 4 trauma centers are typically community hospitals that have the resources to treat and stabilize severely injured patients so they can be safely transferred to a Level 1 or 2 trauma center for further care. They are especially vital when immediate transportation to one of those facilities is not possible, according to the department.
In New York, trauma centers are categorized as “regional” and “area” trauma centers. Stony Brook University Hospital is the only regional, or Level 1, trauma center in Suffolk County, while Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, Brookhaven Memorial Hospital in East Patchogue, Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, and Huntington Hospital in Huntington are all area trauma centers, all categorized as Level 2. Southampton Hospital would be the first and only trauma center on the East End.
If and when Southampton Hospital applies for the designation, it will have to receive verification from the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma, which sets the standards for trauma centers in the United States. Only when it receives that verification can the Department of Health designate it a trauma center.
Alyssa Melillo on Nov 10, 2015