Morris Hospital discontinues Level II trauma status, emergency room operations will be unaffected

Morris Hospital announced Thursday that it informed IDPH that it is discontinuing its voluntary Level II Trauma Center designation beginning Tuesday, though it said this will not change the care provided at its emergency room.

“First and foremost, we want the community to know that the Level II trauma status does not change the care that we provide in our emergency room. Additionally, the public doesn’t need to do anything differently when seeking emergency care,” said Tom Dohm, President & CEO of Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers in a Thursday news release. “The highly trained physicians and staff in our emergency room are still going to take care of patients whose injuries are within our ability to treat, and we will continue to stabilize and transfer patients who need a higher level of care, just as we have always done.”

Dome said the decision is the result of multiple changes to IDPH rules that require neurosurgery coverage for Level II trauma centers. Morris Hospital has never offered neurosurgery. Two of the three trauma surgeons on the Morris Hospital medical staff are disconinuing trauma surgery call coverage, leaving the hospital with one trauma surgeon to provide 24-hour daily coverage.

“After evaluating our Level II Trauma Center status over the past few years, we believe this is the right time to discontinue the designation based on our inability to provide all of the required resources,” Dohm said.

Morris Hospital said in the news release that just one trauma surgery was performed there in 2024, and all trauma patients who required surgery last year were transferred to other trauma centers for a higher level of care.

“Despite the fact that we are a Level II trauma center, by far the majority of trauma patients brought to Morris Hospital who require surgery get transferred because their injuries require an advanced level of care that we don’t provide here, including head injuries, pediatric trauma, and complex fractures,” Dohm said.

While Morris Hospital will no longer have a formal trauma program or an on-call trauma surgeon beginning Monday, other components associated with being a Level II trauma center will remain the same, including 24/7 availability of anesthesia, laboratory and CT scans, according to the news release. In addition, Morris Hospital will continue accepting trauma patients for stabilization and transfer, and physicians and staff in the emergency department will maintain a high level of training and certification.

Morris Hospital said in the news release that it has communicated its plans with area fire and ambulance districts, which will continue to transport patients to Morris Hospital unless it’s determined the patient requires a trauma center and one is within 30 miles. It will also remain an EMS Resource Hospital and maintain medical radio control for the 18 fire and EMS agencies in its system.

“We understand that some will perceive this as a loss in local healthcare services,” Dohm said. “However, we want to assure the community that the care that we provide in our emergency room isn’t changing. Nor should the public do anything differently when seeking emergency care. Always call 9-1-1 for life-threatening emergencies, and continue to go to the emergency room of your choice for non-life threatening emergencies. As always, we remain committed to making Morris Hospital the emergency room of choice for our community.”

Morris Hospital serves 28 locations, including the 89-bed Morris Hospital along with physician offices Braidwood, Channahon, Diamond-Coal City, Dwight, Gardner, Marseilles, Mazon, Minooka, Morris, Newark, Ottawa, and Seneca.