Trauma, whether it be intentional or unintentional, is consistently one of the leading causes of death. Traumatic injuries are categorized as any physical injury that is caused by an external mechanism.

St. Cloud Hospital has been a Level II Trauma Center since 1998. In order to be verified as Level II, the hospital must meet the national criteria and standards of care recommended by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma.

The criteria includes having the capabilities to staff the Emergency Room 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, along with Trauma Surgeons available within 15 minutes of patient arrival. Lastly it is important for St. Cloud Hospital to be a lead Trauma Center within Central Minnesota by including smaller surrounding hospitals in outreach programs.

Additional focuses of a verified Trauma Center include providing performance improvement programs, injury prevention programs, transfer agreements with surrounding facilities, designated Medical Directors and/or Program Managers, and a system set up that is able to collect patient data and later be submitted to state and national data centers. These programs and services can be accessed through Trauma Services at St. Cloud Hospital.

Additional roles of Trauma Services include the care of a patient from the moment that individual arrives until the patient is discharged. The continuity of care is very important to the patient’s outcome. Trauma Services takes pride in the system that has been created and the strong collaborative relationships within the region.

New provider
Trauma Services is proud to announce that we have added a Nurse Practitioner to our team of providers. Bobbie Bertram, NP, started with us on November 26th. Her previous experience was a family practice provider at the CentraCare Health System Melrose Clinic/Hospital. She will be augmenting the trauma surgeons practice by assisting with admissions, clinical rounds and discharges of the trauma patients. We are excited to provide this additional professional service to our trauma patients. Please join me in welcoming her to our trauma team.
- Kirstie Bingham, Director Trauma Services