SSM Health is cutting trauma services at DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton, Mo., raising concerns about access to care for urgent and severe injuries — such as gunshots, stabbings or car crashes — for residents in the area, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported July 20.
The hospital will end its designation as a Level II trauma center, which are required to have immediate access to general surgeons, effective Sept. 10.
SSM attributed the decision to low volumes of trauma patients, but the move will leave a significant gap in the North County area for trauma patients.
Last year, the Florissant Valley Fire Protection District received about 11,500 emergency medical service calls, 649 of which were trauma patients who were taken to DePaul Hospital, according to the report.
"Trauma care is a highly-specialized service — and medical best practice shows we must treat a minimum number of patients to maintain the level of experience, training and equipment a trauma program requires," the hospital said in a statement. "Yet, only a very small percentage of individuals treated in our emergency room each year require trauma services."
SSM ended its trauma center designation at St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles, Mo., in 2020, according to the report. St. Joseph Hospital in Lake Saint Louis remains a Level III trauma center.