Altru Health System Receives Level II Verification from the American College of Surgeons

Grand Forks, N.D. – Altru Health System has been reverified as a Level II Trauma Center by the Verification Review Committee (VRC), an ad hoc committee of the Committee on Trauma (COT) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). This achievement recognizes Altru's dedication to providing optimal care for injured patients.

Established by the American College of Surgeons in 1987, the COT's Consultation/Verification Program for Hospitals promotes the development of trauma centers in which participants provide not only the hospital resources necessary for trauma care but also the entire spectrum of care to address the needs of all injured patients. This spectrum encompasses the prehospital phase through the rehabilitation process.

The American College of Surgeons requires recertification every three years, and Altru Health System has been a verified trauma center since 1996. Verified trauma centers must meet the essential criteria that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance, as outlined by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma in its current Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual. There are five separate categories of verification in the COT's program, and each category has specific criteria that must be met by a facility seeking that level of verification.

About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical education and practice and to improve the care of surgical patients. The College has over 72,000 members and it is the largest association of surgeons in the world. Longstanding achievements have placed the ACS in the forefront of American surgery and have made it an important advocate for all surgical patients.

About Altru Health System

Rated the number one hospital in North Dakota in 2019 by U.S. News and World Report, Altru Health System is now in its second century of serving the communities of northeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. Based in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Altru Health System is a physician-led, multispecialty group practice with an acute care hospital, Level II trauma center, specialty hospital, more than two dozen Grand Forks, and regional practice locations, and a large home care network. As the region’s largest private employer, Altru Health System employs more than 300 physicians and advanced practice providers and 3,800 staff. Altru Health System was the first member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, extending Mayo Clinic knowledge and expertise to the patients we serve. For more information, visit altru.org.