Trauma Center receives elite distinction from American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons has designated University Hospital's Frank L. Mitchell Jr. Trauma Center as a Level I center, the highest distinction a center can receive.
"University of Missouri Health Care and the entire staff at University Hospital have made a significant commitment to provide patients with the highest level of trauma care at a moment’s notice,” the center's medical director James Kessel, M.D., said in a news release. “We are proud to be recognized among the elite trauma centers in the country who have achieved Level I status, and we are proud of the live-saving care we provide to residents of mid-Missouri.”
To earn this verification, the center had to demonstrate its ability to handle the most serious of injuries for any aged person at any time.
“No one expects to be a trauma patient, but trauma injuries strike at unexpected times,” said Stephen Barnes, M.D., chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at University Hospital, in the release. “Mid-Missouri residents should take comfort in knowing that if they are involved in an accident, University Hospital’s trauma team is nationally recognized for providing the highest standard of trauma care from the point of injury to the patient’s trip home following rehabilitation.”
This distinction is held by only three other trauma centers in Missouri.