WEB EXTRA: CoxHealth Earns Level I Trauma Center Status

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- CoxHealth announced Tuesday it has been awarded Level I Trauma Center status by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Level I is the highest rank available, meaning the hospital is equipped to care for trauma patients of all ages and with injuries of all severities.

"I'm very proud of what we've done," said Dr. Tim Woods, CoxHealth's trauma medical director, in a news conference Tuesday (see full video above). "I look forward to growing this program. I look forward to taking care of the constituents of southwest Missouri. When you really look at it, what is level I doing? It's there to take care of our customers. Who are our customers? They're our patients."

This recognition comes after a team of surveyors conducted an extensive review of CoxHealth's program in late September.

This review included touring all areas of the hospital involved in a patient's trauma care, from Surgery to Radiology, from Laboratory to Pediatrics to the ICU. Surveyors also reviewed the program's process improvement measures, patient outcomes, physician and nursing education records, and more.

CoxHealth has been a designated Level II center for a number of years, and put the final pieces in place to achieve Level I status this past spring.

CoxHealth Trauma Services cares for more than 2,400 patients every year, from Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas. The trauma team provides injury prevention education and outreach education to individuals, groups and hospitals throughout the region.

(Information provided by CoxHealth)