CMH achieves level III trauma designation

The State of Wisconsin designated Community Memorial Hospital a Level III Trauma Care Facility. The achievement exceeds standards for critical access hospitals in Wisconsin.

“This is truly an impressive accomplishment,” said Jeffrey P. Davis, MD, Wisconsin Division of Public Health Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist for Communicable Diseases and Emergency Response. Community Memorial Hospital is one of very few critical access hospitals in the state to achieve Level III designation. Most other critical access hospitals in Wisconsin achieve a lesser, Level IV classification.

Requirements for Level III designation include 24-hour-a-day coverage by trauma-trained surgeons, emergency department physicians and nurses, as well as 24-hour-a-day access to anesthesia, laboratory, and radiology services. Additional Level III hospitals in the area include St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center and Bellin Health in Green Bay.

Level I and II facilities are capable of providing complete care for even the most severe traumas. Area Level II hospitals are St. Vincent Hospital and Aurora in Green Bay. Level I facilities in Wisconsin are located in Milwaukee in Madison.

“We are proud of our staff for their ongoing commitment to quality care,” said Dan DeGroot, Community Memorial Hospital CEO. CMH achieved Level III classification in 2008. The three-year classification was reaffirmed Thursday.

Founded in 1921, Community Memorial Hospital is an independent healthcare system serving greater Oconto County with a full-service hospital and six CMH primary care clinics located throughout Oconto County. The federally designated critical access hospital has a 24-hour, physician-staffed Emergency Department, urgent care, retail pharmacy, intensive care, inpatient and outpatient surgical and diagnostic services, rehabilitation, oncology outpatient clinic, obstetrics, the CMH Center for Women’s Care, and the CMH Center for Orthopedic Care. CMH Primary Care Clinics are located in Gillett, Lena, Mountain, Oconto, Oconto Falls, and Suring. For more information call (920) 846-3444 or visit www.cmhospital.org.