North Hawaii Community Hospital is moving up in the world.
This week, administrators announced that the nonprofit hospital had achieved a Level III Trauma Facility designation from the Hawaii Department of Health, putting it on equal footing with Hilo Medical Center and Kona Community Hospital when it comes to treating trauma injuries.
The Department of Health’s Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention Branch awarded the designation after an intensive inspection of the NHCH trauma team’s performance.
Essentially, the Level III designation means that the hospital is capable of providing fast response and comprehensive emergency services to its patients. Having a Level III unit in Waimea means that in emergent situations where time is of the essence, trauma patients in North Hawaii can be treated rapidly during what is known in medical parlance as the “Golden Hour.”
“That’s the time frame when you need to get certain things done to stabilize the patient,” said Dr. Harold Wong, a general surgeon and medical director of NHCH’s Trauma Program. “Particularly when you have someone who is bleeding or having difficulties breathing.”
As a Level III facility, NHCH is required to have surgeons trained in trauma available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as 24-hour access to radiology, laboratory and anesthesia services for its patients.
“The 24/7 presence of a surgeon trained in trauma is one of the most positive steps we can take to strengthen our commitment to saving patients’ lives,” Wong said.
In an interview Wednesday, Wong said that the designation for NHCH gives Hawaii Island the undisputed lead in Level III hospitals in the state.
“We’re the only island that has more than one Level III Trauma Center in Hawaii,” he said. “We’re fairly fortunate to have three now covering the whole island.”
The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu is the highest rated trauma center in the state at Level II. The main difference between Queen’s and Level III centers is that it has more specialized physicians available at any given moment.
“The biggest difference is the availability of specialists,” he said. “… Nobody on this island has a vascular surgeon or a cardiac surgeon or a neurosurgeon available, whereas Queen’s has those people available. … When you have patients with head injuries and chest injuries, we can resuscitate and stabilize those patients, but if we have to repair a ruptured aorta or have a brain operation for bleeding or swelling of the brain, those patients have to be shipped off to Queen’s.”
About three years in the making, the hospital’s effort to obtain the certification represented plenty of hard work and dedication from various physicians, team members and support staff, Wong said.
The hospital will celebrate its certification at a special event on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m. at NHCH’s front lawn.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.