NEWS

Conway hopes to become local trauma center

Scott Rogers
lsrogers@thenewsstar.com

University Health Conway would like to become northeastern Louisiana's first accredited trauma center.

Dr. Lester Wayne Johnson, Conway's chief of surgery and dean of rural health initiatives, said the process to become a trauma center is in the "embryonic stage" of development but it is an effort Conway is committed to pursuing.

"We hope to develop a facility here in conjunction with the level 1 hospital in Shreveport that will seek accreditation and certification as a trauma center as well. It's in the rudimentary stages of discussions and certainly exigencies would have to be met as far as cost to get that done. But we do believe from the results we have seen in various areas of the state that are not immediate adjacent to the trauma centers that our results are not as good," Johnson said.

Conway was the center for regional trauma training Friday as part of the University Health System's new effort to train local emergency medical providers to better assess trauma patients.

University Health Shreveport, under the direction of Dr. John Owings, was recently accredited with the highest level 1 trauma center rating. It serves as the region's only trauma center.

Owings traveled to Monroe to lead an eight-hour course on trauma assessment. He is recognized as one of the country's leaders in trauma care. He was recruited from the University of California-Davis, one of the nation's busiest trauma centers.

The level 1 trauma center status requires University Health Shreveport to educate first responders and the general public on trauma care.

Officials at University Health Conway say this partnership will improve decision-making by first responders when assessing trauma patients. Healthcare providers throughout northeastern Louisiana took part in the training.

The state has four trauma centers - University Health Shreveport, Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge and Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria.

These trauma centers cover the northwest to southeast corridor of the state with one accessible within 100 miles in any direction, but Owings said the northeast to southwest corridor has a void for trauma centers.

Trauma training with local first responders will continue throughout the year to help improve local trauma response outcomes, Johnson said.

Follow Scott Rogers on Twitter @lscottrogers