On May 13, 2019, Northern Arizona Healthcare’s Verde Valley Medical Center – Sedona Campus Emergency Department received official notification that it has successfully met the requirements for Level IV Trauma Center designation by the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Trauma and EMS. It is the first standalone ED in Arizona to achieve this designation. This was confirmed by the Bureau and again at the state trauma advisory board meeting on May 23, 2019.
The ED was not a designated trauma center prior to this. It had to undergo a rigorous designation process and site review by the Bureau. Staffing, training, equipment and processes for trauma patient care all must be in place and must be demonstrated to the reviewers before an agency can be granted the Level IV designation. This is a many months-long process and Sedona did extremely well.