South Nassau Communities Hospital Receives Level II Trauma Center Certification

The South Nassau Communities Hospital was recently certified as a Level II Trauma Center, making it the only South Shore medical facility to receive the American College of Surgeons (ACS) certification.

With the certification, the Oceanside facility can continue provide several trauma care resources to patients, including in-house coverage for trauma surgery and anesthesia, according to hospital officials. In addition, a trauma surgeon will immediately available in the hospital 24 hours a day.

The hospital can also offer services, such as critical care, radiology, cardiology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, vascular and thoracic care, are also available.

“The verification means that South Nassau remains ready at a moment’s notice to deploy an experienced and expert trauma team that will utilize the most advanced emergency medical technologies to treat patients with life-threatening injuries,” Richard J. Murphy, president and CEO of South Nassau said.

According to a press release from the hospital, there is not much difference between a Level I Trauma Center and a Level II Trauma Center. The main difference is that a Level II center involves research and teaching activities that are required of a Level I center.

The hospital, which provides critical emergency care to about 900,000 local residents, was previously certified as a Level II but recently upgraded the facility to meet the higher standards established by the ACS in 2012.

The total cost of the upgrades was $2 million.

In February, South Nassau proposed spending $40 million out of a total of $170 million in grants for a medical facility in Long Beach, using the rest for an expansion at the Oceanside campus.

However, several Long Beach residents recently filed a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency stating that more money needs to be invested in the Long Beach campus to provide care for local residents including those in Point Lookout, Lido Beach and Atlantic Beach, Newsday reports.

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