Kootenai Health, the Coeur d’Alene-based health-care system that operates the largest hospital in North Idaho, recently was designated a Level III trauma center, meaning it’s recognized as highly qualified to treat patients with critical single-system injuries or diseases, hospital sources say.

Although the hospital near the northwest corner of U.S. 95 and Ironwood Drive in north Coeur d’Alene has treated trauma patients all along, the verification process helps ensure the hospital’s trauma care meets or exceeds national standards on an ongoing basis, says D’arcy Luckett, the hospital’s trauma program manager. 

In Idaho, the trauma-center verification process is conducted by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.

Level III trauma centers provide 24-hour treatment by emergency-medicine physicians and offer prompt availability of general surgeons and anesthesiologists, Luckett says. Level III trauma centers also provide backup care for rural and community hospitals and maintain transfer agreements for patients requiring more comprehensive care at Level I or Level II trauma centers.

Patients with multisystem trauma, which includes injuries to more than one body system, such as separate severe bone and respiratory system injuries, would need to be transferred to a higher level of care, such as a Level II or Level I trauma center.

Kootenai Health has 17 board-certified emergency physicians and 58 registered nurses all trained in pediatric and adult trauma, Luckett says.

“All doctors and 100 percent of the nurses are current in trauma and life support,” she says of the ER staff, adding that the hospital can deploy an emergency surgical response team in less than 30 minutes.

Julie Hoerner, Kootenai Health’s director of emergency and trauma services, says Kootenai Health sought out the designation, which also calls for continuing trauma-team education and a quality-assessment program.

“This formalizes our trauma program,” Hoerner says.

Most trauma-patient cases involve blunt-force injuries, she says. The most common cause of traumatic injuries is falls, followed by motor vehicle crashes.

Trauma care isn’t limited to the emergency room, Hoerner says.

“It is an entire system disease process from pre-hospital to rehab,” she says.

Last year, Kootenai Health treated 847 trauma patients in its emergency room, Luckett says. Of those, three were transferred to other hospitals, she says.

In Washington, the state Department of Health certifies levels of trauma treatment for hospitals. In the Spokane area, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital is a Level II trauma center. Deaconess Hospital, Valley Hospital, and Providence Holy Family Hospital are Level III centers.

Harborview Medical Center, in Seattle, is the only Level I trauma center in Washington state and the closest to Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, according to the Seattle-based Washington State Hospital Association.