By Yolanda Jones
The Commercial Appeal
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — On this day, like most days, Dr. Stanley Thompson, the medical director of the emergency room at Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto, has seen 22 patients since his 7 a.m. shift started, and the waiting room is not emptying any time soon.
Last year, 395 of the people to come through the emergency room were trauma patients.
But since the hospital was a Level 4 trauma center, all the staff could do was stabilize the patients and transfer them to a hospital with a higher level trauma center like the Regional Medical Center at Memphis.
Today, things have changed at Baptist-DeSoto.
Recently, the Southaven hospital has been upgraded to a Level 3 trauma center, meaning the hospital is now equipped to handle many of its trauma patients.
“We admit patients with traumatic injuries, whereas in the past, we would stabilize and transfer,” said Teresa Windham, the trauma program coordinator at Baptist-DeSoto.
After a year-long process that included a lengthy application and on-site inspections from the top trauma center doctors and nurses, the Mississippi Department of Health deemed in December that Baptist-DeSoto met the requirements to be designated as a Level 3 trauma center.
“This is a big deal for Baptist-DeSoto because it means that they are at the first real level where a hospital can treat and care for a trauma patient,” said Dr. Norman Miller, the trauma system administrator for the state’s department of health. “At a Level 3 hospital they do the lion share of the trauma work. The only thing they can’t do is neurosurgery.”
This was evident as a patient arrived with bleeding in his brain at Baptist-DeSoto last week. The man clutched his wife’s hand as Thompson explained that he would have to be airlifted from Baptist-DeSoto to the the hospital’s Memphis location.
“Unless you need a neurosurgeon or have a Level 1 trauma, there is no need to drive across that state line for medical care anymore,” Thompson said.
He said the trauma patients that they can now treat at Baptist-DeSoto will include patients who have been in car accidents, suffered from knife and some gunshot wounds and sports injuries.
States with trauma systems have seen survival rates increase by 15 to 20 percent.
Level 3 trauma centers can perform 24-hour emergency surgery and resuscitation. Baptist-DeSoto will now have general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons and anesthesiologists on duty around the clock.
Baptist-DeSoto is now one of two Level 3 trauma centers in the North Mississippi Delta hospital region. The other is Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville .
One reason Baptist-DeSoto sought to elevate its trauma level is because of the growth in DeSoto County in the last decade. According to 2010 Census figures, the county swelled from 107,199 to 161,252, reflecting a 50 percent rise in population.
“The raised trauma status from Level 4 to Level 3 will allow us to plan strategically for growth,” said Baptist-DeSoto CEO James Huffman.
“We are looking forward to making Baptist-DeSoto the primary destination for nine local ambulance services with our new trauma designation.”
Miller added now that Baptist-DeSoto is a Level 3 hospital, it will mean more oversight and quality assurance than the hospital’s previous Level 4 designation.
“Baptist-DeSoto certainly can’t sit back and rest on its Level 3 designation,” Miller said. “Every three years the hospital will come up for re-inspection on its Level 3 status. Being at a higher trauma system level means it is a continual process, so the program will not get stagnant and will be continually improved to drive the best care for the trauma patients.”
Copyright 2011 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.