Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) Gainesville was recently verified as a Level I trauma center. This makes NGMC Gainesville one of five state-designated Level I trauma centers in Georgia and only the fourth nationally-verified Level I trauma center in the state.
“We are thrilled to announce this exciting news for our community and beyond,” says 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 I trauma centers must be capable of providing system leadership and comprehensive trauma care for all injuries.
“We have been operating like a Level I trauma center for a while, as we prepared to apply for this highest level of designation and verification,” says Matthew Vassy, MD, trauma medical director for NGMC. “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.”
Verified Level I centers also have an important role working with first responders and other agencies to develop a local trauma system and regional disaster planning.
“Verified Level I trauma centers are considered the ‘gold standard’ across the nation,” says 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.”
