17 hours Ago By Nick Morgan [email protected]
Local patients with urgent medical conditions who need immediate attention may be transferred from Longview's hospital to Vancouver this weekend — a distance of 40 miles. A PeaceHealth official says emergency patients at Longview's St. John Medical Center needing a trauma surgeon this weekend may be transferred to Vancouver or other nearby hospitals.
The Longview hospital's Emergency Department will be open 24/7 "as always," but this weekend — from Friday, May 2 through Monday, May 5 — the hospital will have "temporary adjustments that impact our weekend trauma and general surgery coverage," according to an email from Debra Carnes, PeaceHealth's director of marketing and communications for its Columbia network of hospitals including PeaceHealth St. John in Longview and PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. "If patients are seen in our Emergency Department or hospital this weekend and require emergency surgical care, they may be transferred to either PeaceHealth Southwest in Vancouver or other nearby available facilities," Carnes said.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, trauma surgeons are treat serious injuries including motor vehicle accidents and assaults. Carnes did not explain why the adjustments to surgery coverage had been made. PeaceHealth St.
John is classified as a Level III Trauma Center , and PeaceHealth Southwest is a Level II Trauma Center , according to PeaceHealth. Nick Morgan is a news reporter for The Daily News covering business, real estate and the city of Longview. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
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