Grapevine’s Baylor Scott & White Medical Center is officially a Level II trauma center. It makes the medical center the first and only Level II trauma center in Northeast Tarrant County.

At a ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 3, to recognize the recent designation, Baylor SWMC-Grapevine President Steven R. Newton said the designation is significant for the hospital.

“We’re doing this for one simple reason,” Newton said. “Patients in this community deserve the very best right here in this community. They do not need to wait an extra 30 minutes, cutting 30 minutes into the golden hour of lifesaving critical care for trauma patients.”

He said before the center opened, injuries that took place even on the nearby Highway 114 would have to be transported to Fort Worth or Dallas to receive critical care.

“[The trauma team] took this facility from no trauma designation at all to a nationally designated Level II center in just three years,” Newton said. “I’m not sure if that’s unprecedented, but it sure feels like it.”

A press release from Baylor SWMC-Grapevine said that a Level II center is similar to a Level I trauma center, except the Level II doesn’t have medical residents or a research component.

The ceremony on Tuesday featured a patient testimonial from Barbara Werley, who was treated at Baylor SWMC-Grapevine after her car was hit in December at highway speed from the rear and rolled four times. She described herself as “doing somersaults” in her car. She suffered a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, bruises and multiple broken ribs. Her broken ribs were treated with rib plating, a procedure in which surgeons fuse broken ribs back together with bendable titanium plates.

She credited the trauma team with her recovery.

“I have absolutely no rib pain, I haven’t had pain since surgery,” she said.

She was able to return to work eight weeks after her accident and said she’s expected to make a full recovery.

“My next goal is to run the Chicago marathon in 2018, so we’re working towards that,” Werley said.

Trauma Program Manager Danielle Sherar said just as time was a critical component for Werley, so it is for most patients. She mentioned the violent event in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, saying families need to have a plan for when the worst happens.

“In times such as these it’s imperative that each one of us knows where our trauma centers are,” she said. “For times when tragedy does strike, where should we go? Where should our loved ones be taken to? What resources do they have available? We need to have immediate treatment to provide the most optimal outcome for patients who suffer anything from a minor to a life-threatening injury.”

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify the hospital's designation within Northeast Tarrant County.