(Fargo, ND) -- Sanford Health Fargo’s Children’s Hospital has received re-verification as a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons. Sanford Fargo is the only Level II Pediatric Trauma Center in North Dakota. The re-verification lasts for three years.
The review occurred virtually in late April, and no deficiencies were cited. Receiving Level II Pediatric Trauma Center verification requires annually admitting 100 or more injured children. The inclusion age for ACS verification is from birth up to the patient’s 15th birthday. In addition to pediatric resource requirements, hospitals that pursue verification as a pediatric trauma center must meet the same resource requirements as adult trauma centers.
Criteria to achieve ACS verification includes, but is not limited to:
- Time to operating room for emergent trauma
- Neurosurgical or orthopedic emergencies
- Times of administration of IV antibiotics for open fractures
- Trauma team specialties such as pediatric neurosurgery, pediatric orthopedics, pediatric neurology, pediatric rehabilitation, child life services, family support and child protective services.
“Receiving this re-verification from the ACS is a big deal for our community and the patients we serve, and we are fortunate to be able to deliver this type of care to our patients right here in their own backyard,” said Debra Hanson, Sanford Fargo’s pediatric trauma program coordinator. “The ACS prioritizes quality trauma care with positive patient outcomes and our chart review and performance improvement measures were cited as program strengths, as well as our collaborations with our many referral facilities in the region.”
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical education and practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The college has over 72,000 members and is the largest association of surgeons in the world.
For more information on Sanford Children’s Hospital, click here.