Piedmont Henry Hospital ER earns certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  February 10, 2023 9:24pm EST
FOX 5 Atlanta
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Piedmont Henry Hospital earns Level 3 Trauma certification

Metro Atlanta has a new trauma center and it’s just in time with the loss of Atlanta Medical Center.

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. - Metro Atlanta has a new trauma center, and it is coming just in time after the closure of Atlanta Medical Center.

The emergency room at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.

Before January a trauma patient would come to the ER here at Piedmont Henry Hospital, the staff stabilize them and then they would ship out that patient to either trauma centers in Macon or Atlanta. But now that Piedmont Henry is a trauma center, they can treat many of those patients right here.

With trauma surgeons on standby 24 hours a day, and beefed up training for ER staff, Piedmont Henry is now the only trauma center on the Interstate 75 corridor between Atlanta and Macon.

"So, we feel as if we fit the bill to fill, that geographical gap, especially on the south side of metro Atlanta below I-20," said Jay Connelly, Director of Stroke and Trauma.

For the last two years, Piedmont Henry has been working to earn its trauma center designation from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)
The ER at Piedmont Henry Hospital has earned its certification as a Level 3 Trauma Center.  (FOX 5)

They say before now their ER had been designed to provide emergency care for illnesses, but trauma from such things as car accidents, gun shots and other catastrophic injuries always required patients be transported, typically to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta or sometimes even 60 miles south to Macon.

"We can complete the care now at Henry as opposed to stabilizing and transferring out," said Connelly.

Those patients who need more specialized care will still be stabilized and transferred to other hospitals. And they say they are now better at that too.

"And we have seen our time in getting people to a higher level of care dramatically reduced because we are able to recognize injuries earlier," said Paula Butts, Chief Nursing Officer, Piedmont Henry Hospital.

Piedmont says the trauma death rate in Georgia is above the national average. They think they can now help improve that by now providing trauma care on Atlanta’s south side.