ST. JOSEPH'S TRAUMA CENTER RATING REDUCED

(01/26/2008)

Last week, Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital in Parkersburg was downgraded to a level four trauma center, the official announcement coming several days following the change. Now, St. Joseph's Hospital is following suit. The problem is linked to the inability of the two facilities to provide orthopedic care linked to trauma criteria. St. Joseph's reduction is a domino effect of First Settlement Orthopedics' decision to pull their coverage from Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. First Settlement pulled their orthopedic surgeons from Camden-Clark following an inability to come to an agreement over on-call services. This left the two on-call orthopedic surgeons at St. Joseph's Hospital carrying the work load of two hospitals. State EMS Medical Director Doctor William Ramsey says officials at St. Joe's notified him this week that their orthopedic surgeons can only cover 20 out 30 days a month. Ramsey says the deficiency means that St. Joseph's Hospital no longer qualifies for level three trauma status and will become a level four center.

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