Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital Receives Approval as Level III Trauma Center

0
995

Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital’s New Designation Means More Extensive Trauma Care Close to Home

Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital (VWCH) has received approval as a state-verified provisional Level III Trauma Center, making it the first and only hospital able to provide this higher level of care in Wilson County.

“Having a Level III Trauma Center is an asset for our community,” said Scott McCarver, MHA, president of VWCH. “No longer do our neighbors need to go to Nashville to receive high-level care — they can stay closer to home where family can be with them more.”

The provisional Level III designation recognizes VWCH’s ability to provide 24-hour, immediate care by emergency physicians and quick availability of trauma-trained surgeons and anesthesiologists. Trauma centers are also held to a higher quality standard, ranging from patient care to patient reviews of their experience. Leadership expects the provisional approval to become a finalized designation next year.

“VWCH dramatically building up the types and quality of care it can provide to obtain this Level III status is a key milestone for Vanderbilt Health’s vision for higher-quality care in communities across the region,” said Andrew Hopper, MD, Trauma Medical Director at VWCH.

In 2019, Vanderbilt Health acquired the Wilson County hospital, making it a part of its growing system of hospitals and clinics. It is also a member of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, a collaboration among hospitals and health care providers that includes 60 hospital locations, 6,000+ clinical providers and nearly 120 quick care options located across six states.

“Many of the improvements made to achieve this designation provide benefits far beyond the emergency department,” said Hopper. “Trauma centers also have a community outreach component, which is why you’ll be seeing more and more of our clinicians and staff in the community providing education and community service.”

The entirety of VWCH now has access to capabilities including interventional radiology, which is used as a treatment for cancer and other conditions without major surgery, urology coverage, round-the-clock anesthesia coverage and expanded availability of life-saving blood products.

Additional significant investments have been made in the building’s overall infrastructure, faculty, equipment and more.

“I am thankful for the hard work and care Scott, Dr. Hopper and the rest of the Vanderbilt Health team have put into this effort,” said Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto. “There’s a daily need for this level of care and it becomes absolutely indispensable in crises like the 2020 tornado outbreak. When this and surrounding communities were hit, there was no option other than going to Nashville, which was made more difficult by obstructed roads and bad weather that grounded LifeFlight. We can now care for our community in our community.”

About Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital

Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital is a 245-bed, two campus, acute care facility that is fully accredited by the state of Tennessee and the Joint Commission. In addition, we have received national quality awards including designation as an accredited chest pain center, a stroke center, and a comprehensive weight loss center, sleep center and certified in Total Hip and Knee Replacement.  In addition to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center at Wilson County, Vanderbilt is bringing high quality care closer to home.

About Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers and is one of the largest comprehensive research, teaching and patient care health systems in the Southeast. The most heavily utilized quaternary, referral health care facility in the Mid-South, VUMC sees over 2.4 million patient visits per year in over 160 locations, discharging 67,000 inpatients and performing 70,000 surgical operations. The medical center is the largest non-governmental employer of Middle Tennessee citizens, with more than 28,000 staff, including nearly 3,000 physicians, advanced practice nurses and scientists appointed to the Vanderbilt University faculty. For more information and the latest news follow VUMC on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and in the VUMC Reporter.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here