Petersburg hospital board commits resources to seek state Level 4 trauma designation

The Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board voted unanimously Oct. 29 to provide the resources necessary to achieve and sustain Level 4 trauma designation from the state. The resolution passed without discussion. It names no dollar figure.

A Level 4 trauma center is a small rural hospital that evaluates and stabilizes seriously injured patients before transfer and may treat less serious injuries outright, according to the Alaska Department of Health. The state designation status page lists 13 Level 4 centers, including hospitals in Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Wrangell. Petersburg is not among them.

In a written report to the Petersburg Borough Assembly, Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter said the designation "has been on the roadmap of PMC for over a decade (off/on) and is finally able to come to reality."

Dr. Elisha Brownson and Wendy Allen of the state Department of Health's trauma program visited the hospital Oct. 16 for a consultation. A hospital staff member told the board the visit measured where the hospital stands against where it needs to be and said the reviewers were impressed. The hospital's written quality report says unmet and partially met criteria were identified, that all major criteria were judged achievable within 12 months and that an official report is still to come. The report says a dedicated trauma committee began meeting this month and medical staff signed a resolution of support Oct. 14.

The hospital must log a full year of reviewing trauma cases and improving procedures before a certification visit, which staff expect around this time next year. Training, some equipment and new policies are still required.

Hofstetter told the board the resolution is a required step toward designation. He said emergency room visits ran well over 100 a month through the summer, peaking at about 125 in August, a volume he said strains physicians and nursing staff. The hospital is still recruiting a physician, which he called a huge challenge, and is relying on temporary physicians to fill the gap.

Hofstetter told the Assembly on Nov. 2 that the hospital has added the trauma designation to its year-two proposals under the state's Rural Health Transformation Program, alongside care coordination and value-based care projects. He said the hospital will hear in the next couple of months whether they are funded.

State rules require a certified Level 4 center to report to the statewide trauma registry at least quarterly. Certified trauma centers may be eligible for payments from the state's trauma care fund, tied to designation level. A first certification expires Dec. 31 of the third year after it is granted, and each renewal lasts three years.