Verification distinguishes medical center as the only Illinois trauma center with such status
MAYWOOD, Ill. - If you suffer a serious, life-threatening injury in Illinois, there is only one hospital where your chances of getting all of the specialty care available on a moment's notice has been verified by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) - Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
Loyola stands alone in the state, and as one of the few hospitals in the nation, as having all of the comprehensive trauma services needed to save your life in case of serious injury, no matter the day, no matter the time, according to the ACS, which recently verified Loyola as a Level I trauma center. The ACS, a respected professional organization, has established national guidelines for trauma care in the United States.
To achieve this status, Loyola had to demonstrate to the ACS that it has the resources - trauma surgeons, emergency medicine physicians, neurosurgeons, orthopedists, plastic surgeons, radiologists, anesthesiologists, nurses, respiratory therapists, chaplains, pharmacists, clinical dieticians, operating rooms, CT Scanners, etc. - available around-the-clock, everyday, to take care of patients with the severest of injuries."
"But it's not just about the personnel and equipment - it's about their specialized devotion to trauma patient care and how they fit together and work as a team functioning in a systematic way." said Dr. Thomas Esposito, professor of surgery and chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood. "Even more importantly, it's about how we continually monitor our performance and look for ways to improve it. That's what the site reviewers from the ACS really hone in on and base their decisions upon." Esposito led the Loyola team that prepared for the site visit.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.