Statewide Care 24/7
Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC)'s Level I Trauma Services, Burn Center, Hyperbaric Medicine, and the Hennepin Regional Poison Center provide critical care and key specialty treatment, outreach services, and education for patients and practitioners across Minnesota.
Level I Trauma Care and Outreach Training
Top left: Helicopter landing at HCMC heliport, Top right: Patient transferred from helicopter, Bottom left: Trauma surgeons, Bottom right: Therapy in the Knapp Rehabilitation Center "Easy Street®" Grocery Store
HCMC is a Level I Adult Trauma Center and a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center. Patients come from across the state, with immediate access to the largest and busiest Emergency Department in Minnesota, state-of-the-art ICU's and surgical suites/interventional radiology capabilities, premier trauma surgeons and specialty teams. HCMC provides critical services for emergency, inpatient, and rehabilitation care, including the Burn Center, Hyperbaric Chamber, Traumatic Brain Injury Center, Pediatric Brain Injury Program, and Knapp Rehabilitation Center.
Hospitals and patients across Minnesota depend on HCMC to provide specialized trauma care. Last year, HCMC treated more traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury inpatients than any other hospital in Minnesota. Nearly one third of all first-time trauma admissions were transferred from other hospitals and 44% of patients came from 76 counties beyond Hennepin County.
HCMC has also established an extensive statewide trauma network of hospitals, physician groups and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Trauma Outreach staff work with rural and urban health care personnel in pre-hospital services, Emergency Rooms, in-patient services, and rehabilitation centers to facilitate state-of-the-art trauma care throughout Minnesota and neighboring states. Last year, over 5500 clinicians attended approximately 115 educational events in over 90 Minnesota cities and 4 surrounding states. Diverse community outreach programs educate the public through Child Passenger Safety Car Seat clinics, High School Seat Belt Challenge, Safety Camps, and other programs. Last year, HCMC trauma prevention education, in partnership with other organizations, reached over 40,000 community members.
Read more about HCMC Level I Trauma Care and Outreach
HCMC Burn Center
Patient care in the Burn Center
The HCMC Burn Center is one of 57 Verified Burn Centers designated nationwide by the American Burn Center and is one of the nation's top two authoritative centers on frostbite. The Burn Center provides inpatient and outpatient care through its Ambulatory Burn and Wound Clinic; a new 17-bed expanded inpatient unit will open in November 2011. It is unique in providing access to on-site burn care specialists seven days a week. Multidisciplinary teams treat patients with diverse complex wounds, including burns, frostbite, necrotizing soft tissue infections, de-gloving injuries, disease-related epidermal loss, pressure wounds, and open abdominal wounds; teams include diverse pediatric specialists due to the high proportion of children (approximately 25%) among burn patients.
In 2010, the Burn Center treated more than 1300 patients in over 6700 inpatient and outpatient encounters; 43% of Minnesota patients were residents of 63 counties outside of Hennepin County. The Burn Center also provides critical outreach services around Minnesota through educational events and webcasts; in 2010, Burn Center practitioners trained over 530 physicians, nurses, and EMS providers and conducted fire safety and burn prevention programs in schools.
Read an article about the Hennepin Burn Center
Hyperbaric Medicine
Top: Multi-place hyperbaric chamber and controls
Bottom: Patients and staff "diving," view from the inside and from outside, looking through the hatch
HCMC was the first and only facility in Minnesota to offer hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment from 1964 through 2008, with 24/7 availability to patients from across Minnesota and adjacent states. HCMC has a staff with unsurpassed qualifications and experience in hyperbaric medicine and the management of critically ill patients. A new state-of-the-art facility, due to open in Spring 2012, will be located in the main hospital building and will provide enhanced critical care capabilities and additional space for expanded wound healing activities and patient amenities.
HBO therapy is administered on an emergent, inpatient, or outpatient basis, depending on the patient's need. Emergency HBO treatment is life-saving in carbon monoxide poisoning, air embolism (from trauma, medical procedures and compressed air diving), decompression sickness, and life or limb-threatening conditions. HBO is effective adjunctive treatment for healing problem wounds, such as those due to diabetes and therapeutic radiation. Last year, more than 3000 hyperbaric treatments were administered to patients from 38 Minnesota counties and 4 surrounding states; 63% of Minnesotans treated came from outside of Hennepin County.
Read more about HCMC Hyperbaric Medicine
Hennepin Regional Poison Center
Poison Center staff respond to calls from the public and practitioners, 24/7
HCMC houses the Hennepin Regional Poison Center (HRPC), where nationally Certified Specialists in Poison Information are available 24/7 to provide poison exposure assessment and treatment guidance to community members and health care professionals. They enable timely and effective treatment of toxic exposures when it's needed, and help to avoid unnecessary and costly medical visits when it's not; of every $1 spent on poison control services, $7 can be saved in unnecessary costs.
HRPC staff train clinicians and community members, provide poison prevention materials, do toxicology research, and conduct active surveillance to detect public health threats across Minnesota. Last year, HRPC staff handled over 58,000 calls, nearly 75% of which came from outside Hennepin County. They also helped train 7000 health care professionals, on-site and at over 170 lectures given across Minnesota, and participated in over 160 community education events attended by over 14,000 people.
Read more about the Hennepin Regional Poison Center
Visit our Faces and Stories of HCMC page to read stories posted by former patients and their family members from across Minnesota.
Faces & Stories
Hear from community members and health care professionals whose lives have been affected by HCMC.
