Northeast Georgia Medical Center now a Level 1 trauma center

HALL COUNTY, Ga. — The metro Atlanta area has two Level 1 trauma centers once again.

Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville announced that the hospital was recently verified as a Level I trauma center, joining four others in the state.

NGMC now joins Grady Memorial Hospital to accept Level 1 trauma patients in metro Atlanta. A Level 1 hospital can provide for every aspect of the most severe traumatic injuries – from prevention to rehab – without having to transfer patients.

This comes as the Atlanta area continues to deal with the loss of Atlanta Medical Center in November.

The American College of Surgeons recently performed a survey of the hospital to see whether it has the staff and services to qualify as a Level 1 center.

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“We are thrilled to announce this exciting news for our community and beyond,” said Carol Burrell, president, and CEO of Northeast Georgia Health System. “Since NGMC Gainesville’s Level II trauma center designation in 2013, our amazing trauma team has cared for nearly 20,000 trauma patients that would have had to travel outside our region for care.”

According to the American College of Surgeons, verified Level 1 trauma centers must be capable of providing system leadership and comprehensive trauma care for all injuries.

“The big differences between a Level II and a Level I include a robust academic research component and having the range of surgical subspecialists to be able to care for the most complex of injuries,” said Matthew Vassy, MD, trauma medical director for NGMC.

“Verified Level I trauma centers are considered the ‘gold standard’ across the nation,” said Jesse Gibson, trauma program director at NGMC Gainesville. “We hope that people never need to use our trauma services, but they can rest assured that if they are brought to NGMC Gainesville they will receive the best care available.”

RELATED NEWS:

Northeast Georgia Medical Center applying to become another level 1 trauma center in metro Atlanta

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