TOLEDO, Ohio — As the University of Toledo Medical Center is looking to downgrade their trauma status from a level one facility to a level 3, just two Level 1 trauma centers remain. ProMedica’s Toledo Hospital and Mercy Health St Vincent Medical Center both say they are committed to patient care in this time.
St Vincent's Trauma Medical Director says they will continue their high level of service, but the change at UTMC could impact the hospital.
An incoming life flight was carrying a patient in need of serious care Thursday afternoon. It’s a typical thing at St. Vincent's, but with one less trauma 1 medical center, St V's could see an increase in the number of most serious injuries.
"We as a system in trauma recognize that when something changes we'll pick up the slack and the volume,” said Dr. John Leskovan, Trauma Medical Director at Mercy Health St Vincent Medical Center.
St Vincent’s has been a Level 1 trauma center for at least 25 years. A level one designation is the highest a facility can be rated from the American College of Surgeons. The status is given to total care facilities for every aspect of an injury. Hospitals are required to meet a number of high standards like resources, research, outreach and more. While UTMC is seeking to change their trauma status, Dr. Leskovan said patients shouldn't notice a major change in our area.
"I don't think patient care would suffer a whole lot. I think we're, our specialty of trauma here at St. Vincent’s is tremendous and it won't affect our care," said Dr. Leskovan.
But the new status could create some changes at the remaining hospitals like St. V's as they will likely see more trauma patients.
Leaders say they are still figuring out exactly what that will look like because the changes will not happen overnight. They say they have plans to discuss what could be needed from staff, to resources, emergency plans and more.
"One of the things that we will really have to do is look at how the system, our system, integrates the volume increase that we have to look at,” said Dr. John Leskovan. “We prepare for surge potential, but this is a slower surge over a longer portion of time so it's not as significant.”
The Toledo Fire Department said they are still figuring out what this change at UTMC will mean for them and their daily emergency calls.
But a deputy chief said it could lead to longer transports as they have one less hospital to take their trauma patients too.
