Maine Losing Another Medical Trauma Center

In recent years, we have seen many significant changes to the hospitals in Maine.

In some cases, these hospitals have completely shut down.  Many others have announced that they are discontinuing certain services.  For example, Houlton Regional Hospital in Aroostook County, has discontinued birthing services.

Now, it looks like another Maine hospital is scaling back its services.

According to an article on the WGME website, Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston will no longer be a trauma center, this according to a November 5th bulletin from Maine Emergency Medical Services.

The change will take effect on December 1st.

That bulletin explained that the hospital has chosen not to seek re-verification as a trauma center.  Once the change takes effect, CMMC will be listed as a trauma system hospital instead.

After that date, only two hospitals in Maine will have trauma center designations: Maine Medical Center in Portland, which is a Level I regional trauma center, and Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, which is a Level II regional trauma center.

So, what’s the difference between a trauma center and a trauma system hospital  According to Maine EMS, trauma centers are fully equipped to handle the complete range of trauma care and support services.  Trauma system hospitals, on the other hand, provide trauma care and medical decision-making, but they also work with other facilities to make sure patients get transferred when more specialized care is needed.

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