St. Mary’s opens Level 4 trauma center serving Adelanto and the High Desert

St. Mary’s Medical Center officials told the Adelanto City Council on Aug. 28 that the hospital has been designated a Level 4 trauma center effective July 1 and is staffed to provide around-the-clock trauma and surgical stabilization for the High Desert.

The hospital’s trauma medical director, Dr. Paul Wisniewski, said the center is unique among Level 4 sites because it already maintains staffing and resources closer to Level 3 capability, including a trauma surgeon on call 24 hours a day, a 24-hour operating room, interventional radiology and a 60–80-unit blood bank. “We have a trauma surgeon right now at St. Mary’s, if something happens, waiting,” Wisniewski said.

Nut graf: The new designation is intended to reduce time-to-care for seriously injured patients across a large, sparsely populated catchment area that extends from the Cajon Pass toward Nevada. St. Mary’s officials say the center can provide lifesaving stabilization — including major abdominal trauma care and urgent operations — that will buy time to transfer patients to higher-level centers for specialized care such as neurosurgery.

In his presentation, Wisniewski described several capabilities now available locally: 24-hour critical care and ICU services, dialysis and continual renal replacement therapy, interventional radiology and a robust blood supply able to support multiple major-trauma resuscitations without immediate off-site support. He said the center cannot provide neurosurgical care and that certain spinal or cranial injuries will still require transfer to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center or Loma Linda University Medical Center.

The doctor emphasized community outreach and training, including “Stop the Bleed” courses for high-school students and quarterly education for first responders. “One of the things about me many people don’t know is I did 14 years active duty as a trauma surgeon for the Navy,” he said, adding that military triage principles inform the center’s approach to stopping hemorrhage and triage.

Council members asked whether neighboring cities and agencies could help and whether St. Mary’s could give public presentations. Wisniewski said the hospital would provide presentations and share approved materials with surrounding jurisdictions. The council and city staff offered to amplify the hospital’s outreach through city channels and social media.

Mayor Reyes and others thanked the presenter and noted the trauma service’s potential to save lives in the geographically large service area. The presentation closed with council members inviting the hospital to return for community workshops.

Ending: City staff said they will coordinate distribution of the hospital’s approved materials and consider scheduling public workshops; no formal action was required of the council on the presentation.