GUELPH – Guelph General Hospital has been officially identified as a Level III Trauma Centre.
The hospital was one of just six hospitals in the province to receive the designation.
Their Chief of Staff, Dr. Alex Ferguson, explains this provides the opportunity for collaboration with other levels, like a level one facility, in order to provide care.
Ferguson added these level three centres provide a more established role in regional trauma networks.
He says trauma care requires a great team, and that it can take up to 12 people to care for an individual suffering from trauma, and added this regional approach will provide care to the entirety of the area, including those local to the Northern part of the county.
Ferguson stated this collaboration spans beyond just those hospitals, and involves many other community supports.
Guelph General Hospital was provided funding in the fiscal year of 2021-22 to begin to implement the new program.
Since that point, Ferguson reports they have cared for around 13,000 patients, 240 of those suffering from life-threatening injuries.
Ferguson says they were identified as a participant in ’21-22, but have been developing the program since to truly define what classifies a Level III Trauma Centre.
The hospital says this designation is part of a “strategic action to improve trauma care delivery in the Waterloo-Wellington region and enhance the region’s trauma network by creating an inclusive, integrated, and accountable trauma system.”
Ferguson added education, public outreach and social media will all be utilized as the program continues to roll out.
