Next Monday, Grand Strand Regional Medical Center will start offering services equal to a level two trauma center.
It's the first step in being designated as a Level II center by the American College of Surgeons. To move up to Level II, the hospital has brought in new trauma surgeons and additional nursing staff and is in the process of building a new emergency center.
The head of the trauma department, Dr. Lewis Dickinson, says trauma surgeons will be on duty around the clock. "I myself or one of the other trauma surgeons will be in the emergency room, day or night- there to receive the patient and have the process of getting that patient as best medical as possible to survive the injury."
Dickinson says the nearest Level II centers are in Wilmington and Charleston.
Level II means the hospital will be able to handle nearly any kind of emergency.
