Department of Surgery News | Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

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OUR TRAUMA SERVICE RANKS AMONG THE BEST STATEWIDE, SAYS 2012 HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORT</BIG>
 
Stony Brook University Hospital the Second Hospital Ever to Repeat This Achievement in Two Consecutive Reports

<DIV class=photobox2><A href="/sdmpubfiles/Helipad83-large.jpg" rel="lightbox[group1][Stony Brook University Hospital is the only designated Level 1 regional trauma center in Suffolk County.]"><IMG class=imagecache-220 title="Stony Brook University Hospital is the only designated Level 1 regional trauma center in Suffolk County." alt="Stony Brook University Hospital is the only designated Level 1 regional tr" src="/sdmpubfiles/Helipad83.jpg"></A> </DIV>
The 1.5 million residents of our region are in the best of hands if they are injured and need emergency care. That's really good news! For the latest report of the <A href="http://www.health.ny.gov/nysdoh/ems/nystrauma.htm" target=_blank>New York State Trauma System Program</A>, just issued by the NYS Health Department, Stony Brook University Hospital has demonstrated a lower than expected risk-adjusted mortality rate for the "severe" traumatic injury patients that form the state registry data set.
This high level of performance makes us one of only four trauma centers statewide to have a statistically significant lower than expected mortality rate, and the second hospital ever in New York to repeat this achievement in two consecutive reports.
University Hospital — our region's only state-designated Level 1 Trauma Center — is among four of 40 trauma centers in the state with survival rates for patients with severe traumatic injury that are significantly above the statewide average.
Suffice it to say, this record of achievement makes us all proud of the excellent clinical care that we provide here at Stony Brook University Hospital, and proud of our trauma registry which records such care with accuracy and completeness.
"This is truly a credit to all the individuals involved in our trauma system, from the physicians from all services and departments, which include attendings, fellows, and residents to the nurses, physical and occupational therapists, care coordinators and social workers, and respiratory therapists, together with the support from Stony Brook Medicine's administration," says <A href="/surgery/people/faculty/dr-marc-j-shapiro">Marc J. Shapiro, MD</A>, who served as our chief of <A href="/surgery/patient-care/clinical/trauma-surgical-critical-care">trauma/surgical critical care</A> during the period of the state's last two reviews of our trauma care performance.

<div class="subhead">Record of Excellence in Trauma Care</div>

Our trauma service treats more than 1800 patients annually, among whom at least 800 on average have moderate to severe injuries. Those 800 patients per year are the subject of the state's new three-year report on risk-adjusted mortality.
In addition to direct admissions, we consult on and receive transfers of complex, critically injured patients from all points in Suffolk County, and every community and Level 2 trauma hospital in the region. Stony Brook also serves as EMS control for all of Suffolk County's ground and air ambulances.
Our trauma service has been recognized by multiple state and federal healthcare agencies as providing among the highest level of care to injured patients in the country.
According to the <A href="http://www.ahrq.gov/" target=_blank>Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality</A> of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Stony Brook's trauma service is in the top 4% of trauma centers nationwide, with the lowest mortality of any hospital in the United States in treating pedestrian trauma.
NYS Trauma System Reports are periodically produced by the Health Department as quality management tools to document the efficacy of the NYS trauma system. These reports use NYS trauma registry data to detail risk-adjusted mortality rates by trauma center, level of trauma center (regional vs. area), trauma region, and mechanism of injury.
Two types of mortality are examined: "in-patient" (only those severely injured patients who died after being admitted to the trauma center hospital) and "in-hospital" (all severely injured patients who died in the hospital — both the "in-patient" and those that died in the emergency department).
According to the new Health Department, our risk-adjusted survival rate was 95.15%, compared to the state observed average of 93.81% in 2007-2009. The expected survival rate for Stony Brook's patients was 93.22%, based on patients' level of acute illness or injury. Additionally, Stony Brook was one of only two in the state recognized twice consecutively for this achievement for the time periods of 2003-2006 and 2007-2009. 
<A href="http://www.health.ny.gov/nysdoh/ems/pdf/07-09_trauma_report_executive_s…; target=_blank>Click here</A> to see the executive summary of the new trauma report of the New York State Trauma System Program.