Leitchfield, Ky. — Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center has been designated as a Level IV Trauma Center by the State of Kentucky. The designation for the hospital is from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department of Public Health, and is reserved for hospitals that meet stringent criteria established by the Cabinet as part of the Kentucky Trauma System.
TLRMC Emergency Department Director Nancy Kipper, RN, and Emergency Department Supervisor Kathy Peck, BSN, RN, led the certification effort at TLRMC.
The goal of the Kentucky Trauma System is to decrease the time it takes for injured patients to receive care. Kentucky is moving toward a broader and deeper network for trauma care. With the designation of TLRMC as a Level IV Trauma Center, the Commonwealth is getting closer to the goal of ensuring that seriously injured Kentuckians have access to an organized system of trauma care wherever they are in the state.
TLRMC becomes the 12th Level IV Trauma Center in Kentucky, and one of only five Trauma Centers west of I-65 along with others in Daviess, Trigg, Union, and Livingston counties. There are no certified Trauma Centers located in Elizabethtown or Bowling Green. The Level IV designation for TLRMC is valid through February of 2021.
A Level-IV Trauma Center has twenty-four hour physician coverage for the Emergency Department, extensively trained nursing and support staff, enhanced medical equipment and supplies, and a comprehensive emergency care program that is prepared to deal with most routine traumatic injuries that present to them. Extensive and critical injuries will be stabilized, and then transferred quickly to a higher level of trauma care to meet the needs of the patient.
“As a rural community hospital, we strive to provide care that increases survivability,” says Peck. “The Emergency Department staff along with all of the hospital ancillary departments, and EMS work together to provide Trauma Care to our patients. It is a team effort to assess, treat, and transfer if necessary.”
“The Level IV designation shows that TLRMC is committed to providing life-saving emergency measures to severely injured people in our region,” Kipper said. “Improving our trauma care will affect many lives in the community.”
According to data provided by the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, Grayson County ranks among the Kentucky counties with the highest level of traumatic injury hospitalizations per 10,000 residents. No other regional county ranked as high. The highest causes for traumatic injuries include falls (70%) and motor vehicle collisions. In 2016, there were 18,799 hospitalizations for Kentucky residents in non-federal, acute care Kentucky hospitals due to traumatic injuries. This is an increase of 1.4% over the hospitalizations for traumatic injuries in 2015.
The voluntary certification process was quite challenging according to Kipper. “To become a Level IV Trauma Center, we had to demonstrate and document our ability to provide advanced trauma care prior to transferring patients to a higher level trauma center. We also have to be able to provide evaluation, stabilization, and diagnostic capabilities for injured patients.”
The certification process included an outside review of the hospital’s resources, capabilities, policies and protocols that address trauma team deployment to care for trauma patients. TLRMC Emergency Department nurses complete professional education courses specific to trauma care. Emergency Department physicians maintain certification in advanced trauma care.
“The Level IV Trauma Center designation is more than just a title. The entire staff put in a lot of hard work to achieve this higher level of care,” says TLRMC CEO Wayne Meriwether, MHA.
“I would like to add my congratulations to the entire Emergency Department team for their commitment to attaining this achievement,” says TLRMC Chief Nursing Officer Trina Daves, RN, BS. “This endeavor has taken a great deal of work for the ED staff in addition to the increased collaboration with our local EMS and Air Ambulance providers. Nancy and Kathy have led by example and worked tirelessly to earn this recognition. Our community is so blessed to now have their local hospital be able to provide this higher level of care.”
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be placing Trauma Center plaques with the blue “H” signs letting the public know that Leitchfield has a hospital.
