Trauma Treatment: New York's Level 1 Centers

According to the New York State Department of Health, trauma care is "that care provided to patients at a high risk of dying from multiple and severe injuries." There are 40 trauma centers in New York State, divided into two types—regional trauma centers and area trauma centers.

The closure of St. Vincent's Hospital this year has put increased pressure on trauma centers around the city.

A regional trauma center, or Level 1 trauma center, is "a facility with the ability to provide definitive treatment to the full-range of trauma patients, including a commitment to trauma research and education," state DOH regulations state. "Such a facility has 24-hour availability of specialists in varied surgical and non-surgical fields." A Level 1 center can treat 1,000 severely injured patients a year.

Level 2 trauma centers, also called area trauma centers, are "capable of providing definitive treatment to most trauma patients," according to DOH. "Such a facility has emergency medicine specialists and general surgeons available 24-hours a day; other medical specialists are available on an 'on-call basis.' "

Trauma care is only one part of emergency medicine, so not every emergency room is a trauma center. And not all New York City hospitals have trauma centers, although the 15 city hospitals that do have such centers all have Level 1 facilities. There is also a pediatric level 1 trauma center at Children's Hospital of New York at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Washington Heights.

The city's current Level 1 trauma centers are:

• Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center in the Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven
  
• New York Presbyterian Hospital's Weill Cornell Medical Center on 68th Street in Manhattan
  
• St. Barnabas Hospital in the Belmont section of the Bronx
  
• St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital Center in Clinton
  
• Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton, Staten Island
  
• Staten Island University Hospital in Midland Beach, Staten Island
  
• Bellevue Hospital Center in Gramercy
  
• New York Hospital Center of Queens in Flushing
  
• Jacobi Medical Center on Pelham Parkway, in the Bronx
  
• Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brownsville, Brooklyn
  
• City Hospital Center at Elmhurst, Queens
  
• Harlem Hospital Center
  
• Jamaica Hospital
  
• Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn
  
• Kings County Hospital Center in Wingate, Brooklyn