Designated trauma centers meet state and local requirements for treating life-threatening injuries from gunshot wounds, car accidents, falls and other serious harm to the head, spine and vital organs. Trauma centers are categorized into different levels based on their specific capabilities, equipment and community programs.
Sutter’s trauma centers in Roseville, Modesto and Castro Valley are designated Level II sites, providing care considerably above and beyond the ability of typical emergency departments. Emergency rooms aren’t set up to provide the same services within the same timeframe as a trauma center. Trauma centers are unique in that they offer 24-hour, immediate access to specialists such as trauma surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons and radiologists.
In the Sutter Health network, we voluntarily participate in multi-year evaluations with the American College of Surgeons, the most rigorous trauma credentialing agency in the country, to provide the highest level of care at our Level II sites.
- Our trauma centers offer:
- Around the clock coverage by trained trauma teams.
- Rapid response coordination with emergency services and local agencies, including transport services via plane and helicopter.
- Dedicated trauma and resuscitation rooms, featuring high speed CT scanners, open-bore MRI machines and in-room radiology equipment.
- Immediate surgical intervention by trauma and general surgeons, as well as specialists in orthopedic, vascular and neurological surgery.
- Comprehensive blood bank donations for transfusions.
- Critical care units for adult and pediatric trauma patients.
- Trauma prevention outreach and education programs.
In Northern California’s rural North Coast communities, Sutter Coast Hospital and Sutter Lakeside Hospital serve as Level IV trauma centers, able to provide advanced trauma life support before transferring patients to a higher level trauma center.
Across the Sutter Health network, our hospitals are among the first in multi-county regions to be designated trauma centers. Many of these centers are housed in hospitals cited as top performers in quality by the Joint Commission, the nation’s leading accreditor of healthcare organizations, and the Leapfrog Group, the nation’s premier advocate of hospital transparency.
