Matt Guthrie 
Establishment of a Level II Trauma Center in New Bedford
Meet the Trauma Program Manager
Stephanie Smith Raby, MSN, RN, PHN is the Trauma Program Manager at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford. A skilled trauma professional, she brings previous first-hand experience establishing and operating a Level II Trauma Center in Los Angeles, California to the St. Luke’s team.
As the Manager of St. Luke’s new Trauma Center, Stephanie has helped pave the way making sure everything is in order for the Level II Trauma Center to be verified by the American College of Surgeons this fall.
In this role, Stephanie helps develop the policies and procedures, coordinates team education and training and ensures that the trauma registry is functioning like it needs to. Building a Trauma Center emphasizes resources and processes, making sure that the right resources are available 24/7.
When Stephanie first came to St. Luke’s in 2018 she and Dr. Grossman worked together to get the trauma center up and running. “Dr. Grossman was able to begin clinician recruitment building the clinical piece of it while I was able to bring in the administration functions,” she says. “My previous experience made it easy for me to look at the list that needed to get done and prioritize based on that list”. The biggest learning curve that Stephanie faced was learning the Massachusetts state specific policies.
Now, to keep things running smoothly in the Trauma Center, Stephanie works closely with Dr. Michael Grossman Chief of Trauma Surgery, The Trauma Surgeons, Advanced Practice Providers, Emergency Room Nurses and Training Specialists Ellie … , the dedicated trauma educator and trauma nurse, and Jeff… who is the Emergency Department Educator with a background in trauma.
Identifying a Critical Gap
In 2017, Southcoast Health performed a gap analysis, identifying a critical need for an established trauma center in the Southcoast region. As displayed in the map below, Massachusetts is separated into five EMS regions. St. Luke’s Hospital is located in Region 5, where there is currently only one established Level III Trauma Center, right on the outskirt of the area.
“You can see that geographically it makes sense to have one here. Southcoast stepped up to the plate and invested in becoming that resource for the community,” says Stephanie.
Southcoast chose to build the new Trauma center at St. Luke’s chose St. Luke’s because they already had some neurosurgical capabilities and some general surgery capabilities and it really was the prime spot located in the middle of the region. Additionally, had some neurosurgical capabilities general surgery capabilities and emergency resources that are needed in advanced Trauma Center.
Creating A Safer Community
Without a dedicated trauma center in the region, patients critically injured had to be driven or life-fligted up to Boston or Rhode Island for specialized care. The long drive takes ambulances and valuable EMS resources out of the community for extended periods of time.
With faster access to evaluation and care, the trauma center is safer for patients and the community. “One of the tenants in trauma is that you have this golden hour to provide lifesaving interventions and made a difference when somebody is critically injured,” says Stephanie. Providing life-saving care in the community is also beneficial for their loved ones and family members as it is easier to get to.
The New St. Luke’s Level II Trauma Center is expected to treat 1,000 patients annually.
