Good Samaritan is now a Level 1 trauma center

In West Islip, Good Samaritan Hospital, part of Catholic Health, is now a Level I trauma center.

The hospital received this designation by the Verification Review Committee, an ad hoc committee of the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. The is the highest verification available and it recognizes Good Samaritan’s ability to treat patients suffering from traumatic injury, and demonstrates Catholic Health’s ongoing commitment to providing the highest quality of care to the communities it serves.

In becoming a Level 1 trauma center, Good Samaritan took part in a comprehensive review, including assessment of the skill of its trauma surgeons and clinical team, and the hospital’s around-the-clock trauma service. Verified trauma centers must meet specific criteria that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance. With three levels of verification, specific criteria must be met by a facility seeking that level of verification.

“As a Level I trauma center, and a designated tertiary care facility, Good Samaritan is central to the trauma system in Suffolk and eastern Nassau Counties,” Good Samaritan University Hospital President Ruth Hennessey said in a statement.

“Good Samaritan is capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury, including those that may be life-threatening and disabling,” Hennessey added. “This verification demonstrates Catholic Health’s commitment to providing care that is state of the art, compassionate, and patient centered.”

There are specific criteria to earn that verification, according to the American College of Surgeons Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient. Those guidelines include 24/7 hour coverage by general surgeons and availability of care in key specialties. They also require education of the community through a number of trauma-prevention activities. In addition they include programs for substance abuse and patient interventions. And they specify meeting a minimum requirement for annual volume of severely injured patients, and more.

Good Samaritan officials say have a commitment to graduate medical education in regards to its trauma program, and provides education on new training and techniques to residents and other team members.

“Good Samaritan’s Level I trauma center verification highlights our dedication to the community and to delivering the best possible care to trauma patients” Catholic Health Chief of Emergency Medicine and Chairman of Emergency Medicine at Good Samaritan Dr. Christopher Raio said in a statement.

“Good Samaritan will now have an even stronger collaboration with its sister Catholic Health hospitals, as well as other facilities throughout Long Island, in the treatment of patients suffering from traumatic injury,” Raio said.