St. Francis Hospital To Double Size Of Trauma Center

[JetPhoto 626]

Hospital to double size of trauma center

Rendering of expanded trauma center

Town of Poughkeepsie – A ceremonial ground breaking was held Wednesday morning to mark the start of construction for the expansion of the Saint Francis Hospital Level II Trauma Center on its Town of Poughkeepsie campus.

The expansion, which will cost just under $10 million, will double the size of the current facility, said to be the busiest trauma center in the state and the only Level II center between New York and Albany, from 8,000 square feet to 16,000 SF.

The work will take some 20 months to complete and will include 11 more private car areas, bringing the total to 27; crating a new four-bed Prompt Care Unit; creating a separate Children’s Care Room; expanding the waiting area; building a new state-of-the-art external decontamination area; providing upgraded isolation rooms for patients subjected to chemical or bio-terrorism exposure or infectious diseases; expanding the F. Brinn Center for Psychiatric Care; creating three new trauma bays; and creating an expanded nurses station.

To add to the hype of the day’s event, Hospital President Robert Savage and other officials arrived at the groundbreaking in a Fairview Fire District ambulance with the siren blaring.

The hospital’s Health Care Foundation is tasked with raising the funding for the project –- it has secured $6 million to date. “Trauma is not something that you schedule an appointment for; it happens in an instant. It’s something that takes you by surprise,” said Foundation President Robert Lane.

“Whether you fall off a horse, you’re mountain climbing over in the Gunks or you’re traveling down the road in an auto and suffer an automobile accident, you need to get to Saint Francis in that golden hour, have the quality of your life preserved or in many, many cases, have your life saved,” he said.

[GM911 0]

correct me if i'm wrong, i thought sound shore hospital in new rochelle was level 2 as well. either way, hope everything goes well with this one!!

[Goose 188]

Sound Shore is a Level II as well, but Saints serves as a stabilization point for traumas heading down to Westchester from up north. Sound shore is nice if you don't need a Level 1 and are in the area, but if things are bad enough you might as well just go to Westchester or Jacobi.

[Guest]

Busiest trauma center in the state? I found that extremely suspicious, so I looked on their website and they claim to be the busiest level II trauma center in the state, caring for over 9000 trauma patients per year. I am suspicious of these statistics because Shock/Trauma in Baltimore only treats 6100, LA County/USC treats 7000, Cook County Hospital in Chicago treats 5000, Parkland in Dallas treats 5000 and UW/Harborview in Seattle treats 5000. So, are they just exaggerating or is St. Francis really the busiest trauma center in the country? That whole level II thing is not true either, here is the list of verified trauma centers in the country, there are none in New York.

[Goose 188]

As far as NYS DOH is concerned St. Francis is a Level II Area Trauma Center.

http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/ems/trauma2.htm

Can't speak to their numbers but they are definitely a trauma center.

Also bro, from the link you provided - some reason why St. Francis and other NY hospitals (Westchester, Albany Med. and Jacobi at the least are trauma centers by any definition) do not appear on the list:

"The designation of trauma facilities is a geopolitical process by which empowered entities, government or otherwise, are authorized to designate. The ACS does not designate trauma centers; instead, it verifies the presence of the resources listed in Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient. This is a voluntary process and only those trauma centers that have successfully completed a verification visit are listed below."

Edited August 30, 2007 by Goose

[JetPhoto 626]

Listening to Mobile Life's frequency, you always hear their paging system which is on the same frequency and they call a "code 99" for almost everything trauma related...that helps build up the numbers

[Danger 160]

Listening to Mobile Life's frequency, you always hear their paging system which is on the same frequency and they call a "code 99" for almost everything trauma related...that helps build up the numbers

Well yeah, I've brought patients in BLS for a fall and it somehow gets 99ed

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Ahhh, so THAT is why I saw all the cones and barriers up there by the ER over the past month or so.

Saints can DEFINITELY use the room. It seems ridiculously small for a Trauma Center (at least I would think so, its not like I have been to many trauma centers to compare it to).

[Guest alsfirefighter]

That whole level II thing is not true either, here is the list of verified trauma centers in the country, there are none in New York.

LOL. That would be a bit difficult brother wouldn't it be? You posted a list of "verification" that is voluntary. St. Francis hospital is a designated NY Level II certified trauma center. Just like Jacobi in the Bronx, Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla and Albany Med.

I was also going to chime in and say are those numbers based on what their policy calls a "trauma patient." I had a newer Paramedic that was riding on a BLS vollie unit that I was sent to intercept with. When I wanted to BLS the patient she made a face and I asked her what was up. (whoever you were you painted a good picture of the MOI, but she still wasn't a "trauma patient") She explained that "saints" calls trauma codes for less and that's when I learned about it. That is also when the provider in the BLS unit also learned that I don't base my findings or decisions on hospital trauma criteria.

Edited August 30, 2007 by alsfirefighter

[Guest]

The reason I linked to the list of hospitals that have been verified by the American College of Surgeons as level 2 is because there are none in NY, despite the claim of this particular hospital. In NY, you are either a regional or area trauma center as determined by the state. Identifying itself as "level II" implies that the institution has met the extensive requirements of the ACS and this has been verified through a site visit and periodic follow-ups. The process is similar to ambulance services getting accredited by CAAS, flight programs by CAMTS and police departments by CALEA. The level II thing is really incidental to their claim to the media of over 9000 traumas per year, which is asinine.