By Associated Press - Wednesday, April 18, 2018

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - A Colorado Springs hospital has become the only medical facility outside the Denver area to be designated with the state’s highest trauma care status.

The Gazette reports UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central announced Tuesday that its trauma center has received level-one status, which only three other Colorado hospitals have.

Hospital CEO Joel Yuhas says the designation means that the hospital can care for patients with the most serious injuries. It also means fewer patients in the region will need to be transported to Denver for trauma care.



Trauma medical director Thomas Schroeppel says the hospital can take in patients “as far as a helicopter could fly.” The hospital’s medical staff has already treated patients from Kansas, New Mexico and across southern Colorado.

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Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com

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