LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Lakeland Regional Health has earned designation as a Level I trauma center, the top classification available for emergency trauma treatment.
April Novotny, senior vice president of clinical services and chief nurse executive at Lakeland Regional, said the designation means patients can receive high-level care without having to travel far from home.
Before the hospital received the designation, people with life-threatening injuries often had to be transported to facilities in nearby counties, even in situations where minutes could make a critical difference.
Dr. Hal Escowitz, Lakeland Regional’s chief quality officer and chief medical informatics officer, said quicker access allows medical teams to stabilize critically injured patients sooner and begin lifesaving interventions faster.
Novotny said another major advantage is the ability to care for entire families at the same hospital. In the past, parents and children injured in the same accident could sometimes be taken to different facilities.
Escowitz described those situations as both heartbreaking and stressful for families.
Novotny added that having to leave the county for treatment can create an added burden for families already trying to manage other responsibilities and care needs at home.
Lakeland Regional Health had been operating provisionally as a Level I trauma center over the past year. During that period, hospital officials said they treated nearly 300 pediatric trauma patients and 88 severely injured trauma alert patients who otherwise would likely have been sent elsewhere.
“Polk County has been growing exponentially over the last several years so it only makes sense that we provide those services,” Novotny said.
Their trauma center added four hybrid operating rooms that are equipped to handle more surgeries and operations that are needed by more severely injured patients.
“We’re excited to see all-comers at this point,” Escowitz said. “We can now take care of pediatric and stabilize any pediatric patient that comes into the hospital.”
Novotny said she’s already seen the positive impacts that keeping a family united can have on a family’s recovery.
