Central Florida Regional Hospital receives full level II trauma center designation

Central Florida Regional Hospital has received official designation as a Level II Trauma Center from the Florida Department of Health.  Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) officials completed in-depth reviews, including an on-site visit to the hospital in March, before issuing approval.
In May 2015, Central Florida Regional successfully completed AHCA’s initial review phase and was granted Provisional Level II Trauma Center status. Since then, the hospital has accepted Level II trauma patients with critical injuries, such as victims of motor vehicle accidents, falls, sports injuries and penetrating wounds.
When emergency medical services personnel respond to critically injured patients, they transport them to the nearest trauma center capable of providing appropriate treatment. Prior to May 2015, many patients in Seminole and West Volusia counties were transported more than 25 miles to the nearest trauma center. The availability of a trauma center in Seminole County reduces transport times for many patients during the “golden hour” – a 60-minute window for bringing patients to a designated trauma center.
Multiple studies, including a Sept. 2015 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Surgery, show that the sooner care is given within that hour, the better the outcome. Trauma is the leading cause of death among Floridians under the age of 44, and Florida’s death rate for trauma remains higher than the national average.
Central Florida Regional Hospital is affiliated with Florida’s first and largest statewide network of trauma centers, developed as an affiliation between the University of South Florida (USF) and HCA to improve access and outcomes of injured patients.  These trauma centers provide:
24/7 in-house coverage by a trauma surgeon
24/7 access to specialty and non-specialty surgeons and physicians
24/7 on-call neurosurgeons
24/7 on-site anesthesia provider, surgical services team and trauma-trained nurses
“All of us at Central Florida Regional Hospital are honored to have expanded our community’s access to life-saving trauma care for critically injured patients,” said Wendy Brandon, Chief Executive Officer of Central Florida Regional Hospital. “Today we celebrate the dedication of our entire hospital team in achieving this milestone.”

- Special to the Herald