The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has designated UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies (MCR) as a Level I Trauma Center, making it the first and only hospital in Northern Colorado with the highest classification for adult trauma care. Level I recognizes the hospital can treat severe and complex injuries, giving residents of Northern Colorado rapid access to top-level emergency and trauma care without a trip to metro Denver. The state finalized the designation in July followed nearly two decades of building services to support an advanced trauma care program to serve the region.
Medical Center of the Rockies
“Not only is this a great achievement for our hospital, but it’s also great news for our patients and our community,” said Kevin Unger, MCR’s president and CEO. “For years, we have been delivering a very high level of trauma care. This designation officially recognizes us for that excellence and sets us on a path of continued progress.”
Key elements required to be a Level I trauma center include around-the-clock coverage by trauma surgeons and prompt availability of specialists in orthopedics, neurosurgery, and anesthesiology, among others. Such facilities also must be leaders in trauma prevention and education, conduct research and meet volume requirements for treating severely injured patients.
In 2021, MCR provided care to 1,853 patients who met trauma criteria. This was more than double the 880 trauma patients who were cared for when the hospital opened in 2007. The majority of trauma cases involve blunt injuries that are often the result of incidents such as falls, motor vehicle crashes and pedestrians or bicyclists hit by vehicles. MCR also serves as a regional referral destination for patients from dozens of hospitals in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska.
In 2020, Fortune/IBM Watson Health named the hospital as a 100 Top Hospital. In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital as the No. 2 hospital in Colorado.