Aurora BayCare has provided Level II care since opening in Sept. 2001, and the facility was initially certified by an independent state of Wisconsin review team in early 2002.
The ACS Committee on Trauma’s Verification/Consultation program looks beyond simply the emergency room and reviews a facility’s trauma capabilities across the entire spectrum of care, from the pre-hospital phase through rehabilitation. The program promotes the development of trauma centers in which hospitals provide not only the resources necessary for trauma care, but also the capability to address the needs of all injured patients.

“Aurora BayCare has always demonstrated the ability to care for the most complex trauma patients, and this proves we meet the very high standards set by the American College of Surgeons,” said Paul Summerside, M.D., President of Aurora BayCare’s board of managers and an emergency and trauma physician.

As verified by the Committee on Trauma, a Level II Trauma Center is able to initiate definitive care for all injured patients. This includes 24-hour coverage by general surgeons with specialized knowledge in the area of trauma management, as well as coverage by the specialties of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology and critical care.

Aurora BayCare physicians provide trauma care in a facility that includes a 28-bed surgical/trauma ICU, a neonatal ICU being expanded to a 12-bed unit, a NeuroCare Brain and Spine Center, and an inpatient rehabilitation unit.

Each hospital seeking verification has an on-site review by a team of experienced trauma surgeons, who use the current Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual as a guideline in conducting its review.

Aurora BayCare is the fifth facility in the state to receive Level II verification, including the third in northeastern Wisconsin.

Other Level II Trauma Centers in Wisconsin include Luther Midelfort Hospital in Eau Claire, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay and Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah.

“Residents of northeastern Wisconsin should feel blessed, as well as reassured, that three facilities in a 45-mile radius have received this recognition,” Summerside said.