The Minnesota Department of Health certified the Madelia Health as a Level 4 Trauma Center. The staff voluntarily participated in the intense designation process to become part of the Minnesota’s statewide trauma system. The process included an outside review of the hospital’s resources and capabilities to care for trauma patients. Madelia Health met standards of commitment, clinical equipment resources and staff training. The hospital also participates in a continuous performance improvement process.
According to the Minnesota Commissioner of Heatlh, Dr. Sanne Magnan, “The goal of the trauma system is to decrease injured patients’ time to care by making sure their medical needs are appropriately matched with hospital resources. With the designation of Madelia Health as a Level IV trauma hospital, we’re getting closer to our goal of ensuring that seriously injured Minnesotans have access to an organized system of trauma care wherever they are in the state.”
Trauma is the third leading cause of death in Minnesota. States with trauma systems have seen survival rates increase by 15 to 20 percent.
The Madelia Health’s Emergency Department is trained and equipped to treat many minor to moderate injuries, and to stabilize and triage severe injuries. Triage is a method of sorting patients by type and severity of injury to ensure prompt transfer of critical patients to the appropriate next level of care. In many cases, a patient’s condition can be stabilized or improved by care at a community hospital making transfer to more distant regional trauma centers, safer with a better chance of a positive outcome. Level 4 Trauma
Jen McLaughlin, RN, Emergency Department Manager, and a number of other Emergency Department staff members worked for more than a year to achieve this designation.
“This designation shows Madelia Health’s commitment to the community and region to help provide life-saving emergency measures to a severely injured person,” McLaughlin said, “Improving our trauma care will affect many lives.”
Madelia Health’s Emergency Department has physicians and registered nurses available 24 hours a day, seven days a week with support from medical and surgical services.
