Trauma Center at Vacaville Kaiser Permanente Opens Today

Kaiser Permanente’s Vacaville Medical Center has been approved by the Solano County Emergency Medical Services Agency to provide Level III trauma services in Solano County beginning today. 

A site visit by a team that included Solano EMS officials and a trauma surgeon was conducted Sept. 29, 2011, and the assessment team concluded that Kaiser Permanente met the criteria to begin providing trauma care at its Vacaville Medical Center.    

“Kaiser Vacaville’s application and on-site review demonstrate your hospital’s commitment to providing excellent trauma care to the residents of Solano County,” said County Health Officer/Deputy Medical Director Bela Matyas, MD, MPH, and EMS Administrator Ted Selby, in the official designation letter to the hospital trauma team.

“This designation is a culmination of the extraordinary work by our team of physicians, nurses and other clinicians and their shared goal of providing the best possible trauma care to the residents of Solano County,” said Max Villalobos, Kaiser Permanente’s senior vice president and hospital administrator for Napa Solano. ”Kaiser Permanente’s emergency rooms are and always have been open to all, and we are ready to provide this life-saving resource to the community.”  

“We are dedicated to providing complete and comprehensive trauma care for Solano County,” said Steven Stricker, MD, physician-in-chief and chief-of-staff for Kaiser Permanente Napa Solano. “The trauma service will take full advantage of the skills of our world-class team of physicians and staff, our advanced information technology, and our beautiful state-of-the-art facility in Vacaville.”  

This is the second trauma center for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. In 2009, Kaiser Permanente launched a Level II trauma center at its South Sacramento Medical Center. A year later, the chief of Sacramento County’s emergency medical services called the center the finest program he had seen in his 40-year career. 

“We have demonstrated that we have the expertise to operate a first-rate trauma center, and we are excited to bring to Solano County this very same approach in trauma care,” Villalobos said.

Kaiser Permanente is the largest health care provider in Solano County and already provides a significant portion of the county’s emergency medical services.  It also has the largest number of physician specialists that typically support an emergency department—including general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, thoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists, as well as a full range of medical subspecialties.  

Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center’s designation as a Level III trauma center means it will provide a wide range of care for trauma patients, including emergency resuscitation, surgery, and intensive care. Patients who require Level I or Level II trauma care will be stabilized and transported to the appropriate higher level of care. 

Kaiser Permanente intends to become a Level II trauma center at the Vacaville medical center in the very near future.

“Our Vacaville hospital is the right place for a comprehensive trauma center in Solano County,” Villalobos said. “The population growth patterns in the county and the close proximity of the hospital to Interstate 80 complement our facility’s ability to fully support a high-performing trauma center.”

Info: Kaiser Permenante press release