A Level II Trauma Center is supported by many different physicians and departments throughout the hospital. These departments work together to ensure quick, timely care when someone experiences a life-threatening injury, and also help provide follow-up care for our patients.

Our departments that support trauma services include the following:

Emergency Room

Our Emergency Room - open to all - is staffed with some of the best trained emergency physicians in the country-including former chief residents from the top training programs across the nation. We treated more than 63,000 patients in 2006, including 20 percent who are not Kaiser Permanente members. It is the largest and busiest emergency room in south Sacramento County. All 27 ER physicians are experienced in trauma care and are credentialed in bedside ultrasound evaluation to check for internal bleeding - which is vital for trauma patients.

The ER currently has 38 beds, including one resuscitation room. By 2010 it will be expanded to 41 beds with four resuscitation rooms that are fully equipped to deal with the most serious injuries. The expansion will also increase the size of the ER by 8,300 square feet, provide a radiology suite and lab work station within the ER, a heli-stop for critical life flight services, and a 4,500-square-foot special trauma follow-up clinic next to the ER.

Neurosurgery

Kaiser Permanente's group of 10 neurosurgeons, who provide specialized care for patients with neurosurgical injuries and diseases of the brain and spine, is the largest in Greater Sacramento. The Kaiser Permanente Neurosurgery Center at the Sacramento Medical Center is one of two centers of excellence for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Three neurosurgeons work in South Sacramento and all 10 would assist with trauma cases.

The specialists can perform minimally invasive procedures to treat aneurysms, vascular occlusive disease, and tumors and lesions that affect the central nervous system and spine. Neurointervention can be used to treat aneurysms and acute strokes without surgery, while seven vascular neuro-surgeons offer complete surgical therapy when needed. The team includes three senior neuro-surgeons with more than 20 years experience, four neurosurgeons who specialize in vascular neurosurgery, and one who started the Society of Endovascular Neurosurgeons.

The Neurosurgery Center also includes our team of spine surgeons for complex and minimally invasive spine surgery, neuro-oncologists and radiosurgeons, neurosurgeons who specialize in peripheral nerve disorders, and a team of specialists for Functional Neurosurgery.

Surgery Center

Featuring a number of specialized surgeons, our General Surgery Department plays a key role when patients come into the Emergency Room. In addition to operating on patients receiving trauma care, the general surgeon serves as manager of the patient's care. Our surgery department has 10 surgeons and 11 operating rooms. The expansion on our campus will increase the number of operating rooms to 17 by 2010.

Among our surgeons are Ryan Cox, MD, who has served chief of surgery since the hospital opened in 1985; David Kissinger, MD, the trauma medical director who helped the U.S. Air Force open and operate a Level I Trauma Center at Wilford Hall Medical Center in Texas; and Victor Rodriguez, MD, a renowned vascular surgeon. Dr. Rodriguez specializes in treating life-threatening aneurysms and injuries to the aorta, the body's largest artery. Over the past few years, he has been contacted several times by other local hospitals, including UC Davis Medical Center, seeking his help with patients requiring his unique surgical skills. Two years ago Dr. Rodriguez became the area's first physician to perform a new stent procedure used to treat patients suffering from thoracic aortic aneurysms, an often fatal condition that strikes the portion of the aorta near the chest. Dr. Rodriguez more recently started performing a "hybrid" procedure, using both open surgical and endovascular techniques.

Radiology

The Radiology Department uses the latest state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging equipment, including CT, MRI, and ultrasound equipment to provide the high quality medical information to our physicians. In 2001 the Radiology Department tripled in size to 30,000 square feet and became the first Kaiser Permanente medical center in Northern California to fully employ digital technology.

The interventional suite, where life-saving stent-graph procedures for stroke, aneurysms and heart attacks are performed, was also expanded and equipped with the latest technology. Having quick access to quality diagnostic imaging is critical for physicians who must decide the best course of treatment for patients with potentially life-threatening injuries.

To prepare for the addition of trauma services, the medical center's three planned trauma bays will be equipped with highly portable diagnostic imaging equipment and a separate radiology suite will be constructed inside the ED. More than half of the department's 74 radiology technologists have at least 20 years of experience and some trauma experience, including military service.

Facial fracture panel

The facial facture panel of surgeons in our Head and Neck Surgery Department has skilled physicians with the experience to treat people with facial injuries such as a broken jawbone or cheekbone.

The department has six surgeons, including Richard Isaacs, MD, the physician-in-chief for South Sacramento, a plastic surgeon, and a maxillofacial surgeon, Don Liberty, DDS. He is one of only six maxillofacial surgeons with Kaiser Permanente in Northern California and the only one in the Sacramento Valley. Dr. Liberty's specialty is repairing broken jaws and treating misaligned jaws so that people have a comfortable bite-both important procedures in trauma care.

Rehabilitation Services

A team of physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists provide care at the bedside and follow-up care to help patients resume their lives and become integrated into the community again. Many of those working in South Sacramento trained in the renowned Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo, which provides expert interdisciplinary rehabilitative care for trauma victims.

Therapists work together to help patients perform every-day activities like making normal movements, swallowing food, speaking, and gaining strength and balance. They also help them learn to use assistive devices like walkers so that they can go home. Patients then receive follow-up care so that they can reach their goals for movement and functionality as determined by their physicians and therapists.