The MetroHealth System will no longer have a pediatric trauma center as of January 2027, the healthcare system announced Wednesday.
MetroHealth said in a news release that it will not seek reverification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) for its Level II Pediatric Trauma Center designation at its main campus. It will remain a Level I Adult Trauma Center, and will still admit pediatric patients with serious injuries, according to the release.
Pediatric patients in need of trauma care will be transferred to University Hospitals鈥� Rainbow Babies & Children鈥檚 Hospital, Cleveland's only Level 1 pediatric trauma center.
"Concentrating care at the region's high-volume children's center (at UH) strengthens it," MetroHealth CEO Dr. Christine Alexander-Rager said in a statement Wednesday. "Spreading it thin would dilute it."
MetroHealth has criticized Cleveland Clinic's plans to open a new Level 1 trauma center in Cleveland 鈥� which would be the city's third 鈥� in part because it would spread trauma resources too thin.
Alexander-Rager said MetroHealth's decision was also driven by declining pediatric trauma cases amid the region鈥檚 aging population, and a nationwide shortage of pediatric neurosurgeons.
The trauma center currently admits per year.
MetroHealth will still treat kids at its four emergency departments in Brecksville, Cleveland Heights, Parma and its main campus in Cleveland.
