By By Steve Swogetinsky/The Meridian Star
Feb. 25, 2001
QUITMAN H.C. Watkins Memorial Hospital has been designated as a Level IV trauma center.
The Clarke County hospital is now part of a statewide trauma team involving several hospitals. It recently received its certification from the Mississippi State Department of Health, Trauma System, following a detailed review late last year.
The system was developed by the health department to identify hospitals that meet certain needs. Hospital officials said it took several months to put everything in place.
The cases of emergency trauma in the state range from Level I, which is the most immediate life threatening, to Level IV. That means the hospital has ability to treat and/or stabilize a patient and to admit him to the next level of care.
Moore said the designation will make it easier to transfer patients who are in need of a higher level of care than Watkins can provide. She added that this designation connects Watkins with South Central Regional Medical Center and University Hospital in Jackson, which have higher trauma center designations.
Steve Swogetinsky is regional editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at sswogetinsky@themeridianstar.com.