St. John’s recognizes the importance of having a dedicated trauma system in place to ensure the best outcomes possible. In May of 1994 the hospital became state designated (meeting all of the trauma regulations listed for Level II Trauma Centers) and American College of Surgeons Verified (meeting a set of requirements listed by the American College of Surgeons as a Level II Trauma Center). In September of 1994 the trauma surgeons at St. John’s made the commitment to provide 24-hour in-house coverage.

Trauma admissions continued to increase and communication back to transferring facilities began by case presentations per request. St. John’s continued with its mission of providing trauma care to anyone who needed the service. Efforts to educate the public about injury prevention began and changes within in the system continued.

As the trauma program expanded and admissions grew, more resources were required. It was decided as more resources were added to the program that we undertake research, establish a formal outreach and injury prevention program and begin a residency training program.

We established ourselves as a tertiary care facility for southwest Missouri, as this was a natural progression, it also brought us into compliance with the State Requirements for a Level I Trauma Center. St. John’s was officially granted state designation as a Level I trauma center on June 23, 1999.

Continued growth and dedication to our community fostered the advancement towards a Level l trauma center in June of 1999. In 2004, we reached an all time record of greater than 2,000 trauma admissions. St. John’s serves as a tertiary care facility accepting all transfers from outlying facilities through the Emergency Department.

Our mission and focus continues today, we provide high quality state of the art trauma care to all injured trauma victims in southwest Missouri. Construction changes are underway to improve entry into the Trauma Center from a secured rooftop helipad entrance straight into the newly designed trauma resuscitation areas making them larger with digital X-ray capability and CT scan designed specifically to care for critically trauma patients.

Controlled access then allows private transport directly to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or the Operating Room (OR). An entire team of ancillary staff and other medical specialty providers are available to care for the patient and family as they move through the trauma system. Each professional works towards the same goal of returning the patient back to their pre-injury level.

All trauma care provided is reviewed and evaluated as it is being delivered. Our statistical data is benchmarked annually to the National Trauma Databank to ensure that the care we are providing remains well above the national average standard of care for trauma centers nationwide.