UHS Trauma Center earns American College of Surgeons verification 

UHS Wilson Medical Center has been verified as a Level II trauma center by the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma.  This nationally respected verification recognizes UHS' dedication to providing high-quality, multidisciplinary care to injured patients throughout the region.

"Meeting the rigorous standards of the ACS to achieve the verification has been a three-year journey for the trauma team at UHS," said John Carrigg, president and chief executive officer of UHS Hospitals.  "The result is a testament to the team’s devotion to quality care and to our organization’s commitment to the needs of patients who come to us at the moment of their most critical need."

UHS Wilson Medical Center is a New York State-designated Level II trauma center and the only ACS-verified trauma program in the Southern Tier of New York and Northern Tier of Pennsylvania. Annually, more than 1,000 injured patients arrive at UHS Wilson’s Emergency Department to be treated for a wide range of severe, often life-threatening injuries.

"Achieving this ACS verification reflects the exceptional care and teamwork provided by UHS' medical staff, nurses, technologists and other clinicians involved in the life-saving care of trauma patients," said Christian Tvetenstrand, MD, medical director of the UHS Trauma Program.  "Trauma care involves nearly every department of the hospital and includes specialties such as emergency medicine, general surgery, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, orthopedic surgery, critical care, anesthesia and radiology."

Continuing, he noted:  "Having physicians, surgeons and other clinicians immediately available in each of these areas to care for the injured patient is what distinguishes a trauma center from other community hospitals."

The American College of Surgeons’ verification program provides confirmation that a trauma center has demonstrated a commitment to providing the highest quality of trauma care to all injured patients and demonstrates those results through a data-driven quality improvement program.  Verified trauma centers must meet essential criteria on a regular basis that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance, as outlined by the national committee.

Based in Chicago, the American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical education and practice and improve the care of the surgical patient.