St. Luke’s Miners Hospital Earns Trauma Center Re-Accreditation

COALDALE, PA – St. Luke’s Miners Campus has earned re-accreditation as a certified Level IV Trauma Center. The hospital has been an accredited trauma center since November, 2013 when it became the first hospital in Pennsylvania with Level IV designation.

The Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation has extended St. Luke’s Miners Campus’ accreditation as a Level IV Trauma Center for four more years.

“After officially becoming a Trauma Center in 2013, we saw an increase in the acuity and injury severity of our patients, further demonstrating a significant need for this type of elevated care in our community,” said Bill Moyer, President, St. Luke’s Miners Campus. “We are extremely proud to be able to provide these needed services and ensure that excellent trauma care is delivered close to home.”

By having a trauma center in the region, patients are seen by a trauma team more quickly, resulting in improved patient outcomes. The Trauma Center at St. Luke’s Miners Campus has seen an average increase in our yearly emergency department visits by 12-14 percent a year since being accredited as a Level IV designated center on November 1, 2013. One-third of the patients are receiving trauma care in the community surrounded by family and friends.

“The trauma program at St. Luke’s Miners has developed a sophisticated level of performance that is patient-focused and designed to improve outcomes for any injured patient who comes to the emergency department in Coaldale,” said William S. Hoff, MD, Network Director, Trauma Program Development for the St. Luke’s University Health Network.

For more serious injuries, the St. Luke’s Miners Hospital trauma team stabilizes patients to prepare for safe transfer via ground or helicopter to St. Luke’s University Hospital – Bethlehem, a Level I Trauma Center. Fifty-five percent of those trauma patients who are seen at St. Luke’s Miners Campus Trauma Center are transferred to St. Luke’s University Hospital–Bethlehem, while others may require a transfer to a specialty care outside of our region such as pediatrics, burns or certain eye injuries.

The Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation is a non-profit corporation charged by the Emergency Medical Services Act with accrediting trauma centers in Pennsylvania. Accredited trauma centers must be continuously prepared to treat the most serious life threatening and disabling injuries.

In Pennsylvania, there are four levels of trauma centers:

• Level I trauma centers provide the highest degree of resources with a full spectrum of specialists and must have trauma research and surgical residency programs.
• Level II trauma centers require the same high level of clinical care but do not require research and residency programs and the following subspecialists: cardiac surgery, hand surgery, vascular re-implantation, oral/maxillofacial surgery, otorhinolaryngological surgery, neurology, physiatry and psychiatry.
• Level III trauma centers are smaller community hospitals that do not require neurosurgeons and focus on stabilizing severe trauma patients prior to transport to a higher level trauma center. They may admit patients with mild and moderate injuries.
• Level IV trauma centers provide enhanced care to injured patients within the emergency department and focus on stabilization and rapid transfer to a higher-level trauma center. They may admit mildly injured patients.

Each trauma center regardless of its level is an integral component of the emergency medical services system. As of September 1, 2017, there are 40 trauma centers in Pennsylvania.