Major health systems in northern Ohio are joining force to create a trauma care network in the region that better provides coordinated care.
The Northern Ohio Trauma System (NOTS), originally formed in 2010 as part of a partnership between MetroHealth System and Cleveland Clinic, according to an announcement, has now added University Hospitals to its roster. The system targets a seven-county region in the northeast part of the state.
The partnership is an expansion of previous efforts among the three health systems. MetroHealth, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals have teamed in the past to respond to outbreaks like Ebola and to prepare for the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was held in Cleveland, hospital officials said.
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NOTS includes three Level 1 trauma centers, Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital, the emergency department at MetroHealth’s main campus and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, which will accept the most severe patients. Pediatric patients will be sent to University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital’s pediatric trauma unit.
Other patients will be sent to one of several Level 2 or Level 3 trauma centers across the three health systems.
Learn how an expanded Northern Ohio Trauma System is good news for everyone: https://t.co/OffV7deJ7y pic.twitter.com/Gx9viSOw1t
— MetroHealth (@metrohealthCLE) February 12, 2017
“The heartbreaking effects of traumatic injuries impact both patients and their families, and improving outcomes is the most important part of expanding NOTS,” Bernard Boulanger, M.D., executive vice president and chief clinical officer of MetroHealth, said in the announcement. “The inclusion of additional trauma centers in NOTS will help ensure that more patients receive the proper care they need at a most crucial time.”