Waukegan’s Vista Medical Center East gets back Level II trauma center designation

Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan is once again a Level II trauma center, allowing ambulances to bring patients in need of emergency care to the hospital for treatment.

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) entered an order Monday afternoon in Chicago lifting the revocation of Vista’s trauma center status imposed on Feb. 5, thus reinstating Vista to a Level II hospital.

State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, who has been working with Vista and state officials to ensure the hospital cured the compliance gaps that caused the revocation, said she was glad to see the order.

“With the full restoration of their Level II designation, Vista has demonstrated its commitment to ensuring full compliance today and in the future,” Johnson said Monday. “I look forward to monitoring the progress of their plan to turn the hospital around to offer the same level of care our residents deserve.”

Feisal Gill, the chief legal officer of American Healthcare Systems which owns Vista, said in a text he was glad to see the certification restored.

“It will further help us serve the community better,” Gill wrote.

Mike Claffey, a spokesperson for the IDPH, said in a February email the Level II trauma designation was revoked, “due to (the hospital’s) absence of essential services needed to maintain this designation, including lack of a blood bank, anesthesia, neurology, urology, or a full-time trauma coordinator.”

Level II trauma centers can treat patients with serious injuries resulting from shootings, crashes and similar traumatic incidents, with general surgeons always available.