A Gainesville hospital could become a Level l trauma center months after an Atlanta hospital with that designation closed. Officials at Northeast Georgia Medical Center say they’ve submitted an application to a national association that verifies whether hospitals have the services and staff to qualify as trauma centers.
NGMC Gainesville is already a Level ll trauma center. The hospital’s trauma program manager Jesse Gibson says the move toward Level l status began long before Wellstar Health System closed its Atlanta Medical Center.
“This was something in the back of our minds that might just be a natural progression for us,” Gibson said on GPB News.
Moving to Level l status would provide patients with expanded surgical, critical, and pediatric care services. It would also require more teaching and research to be done at the hospital, something NGMC has been moving toward for the past several years.
“Adding those residents and the academic component to it, you know, it really just sets us up at this point to see where we land and where we want to be,” Gibson said.
Decision could come soon
In 2013, the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Emergency Medical Services & Trauma Office designated NGMC Gainesville as a Level ll trauma center. In 2019, the hospital earned national verification from the American College of Surgeons, confirming it has the necessary resources “to address the trauma needs of all injured patients.”
NGMC is owned and operated by Northeast Georgia Health System. The hospital treats more than 2400 patients with traumatic injuries each year, according to its website.
When Atlanta Medical Center closed in November, it left Grady Hospital as the only Level l trauma center in metro Atlanta.
Georgia has three other Level l trauma centers across the state: Augusta University Medical Center, Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, and Macon’s Atrium Health Navicent.
A decision on the Gainesville hospital could come early next year.
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Orlando Montoya of GPB News contributed to this report
