PORT ANGELES — The state Department of Health has granted Olympic Medical Center a three-year renewal of its status as a Level 3 trauma center, the public hospital district announced Monday.
The designation means OMC can provide 24-hour emergency care and has the resources for emergency resuscitation, general and orthopedic surgery, and intensive care for most patients who need it.
When a patient requires higher level subspecialty care, the patient is stabilized at OMC and transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the only Level 1 trauma center in the Northwest.
“Our community deserves to have the best emergency and trauma care we can provide in a rural setting, and because of this, we feel it is very important for OMC to continue to maintain our Level 3 trauma center status,” OMC Chief Nursing Officer Lorraine Wall said in a statement.
“We work with our highly skilled emergency medicine doctors and surgeons to ensure that we have the coverage we need to provide safe, quality medical care.”
Every three years, hospitals can apply and compete for trauma service designation.
The state Department of Health has the authority to renew or re-designate the level of a trauma center.
OMC has been a Level 3 trauma center since 2002.
With more than 1,000 employees, the hospital district is Clallam County’s largest employer.
