State elevates Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center to Level I trauma center

Lakeland Regional Health on Tuesday announced it has been designated the 12th Level I trauma center in the state by the Florida Department of Health.

Under that designation, Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center is certified as providing the most advanced, lifesaving care for adults and children in Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties.

The certification will allow more patients to receive lifesaving care while reducing the need to transfer to nearby Level I centers in Tampa, Gainesville or Orlando.

“The most significant impact of being a Level I trauma center is the ability to keep families together during a traumatic event,” Dr. Timothy Regan, the hospital’s president and chief medical officer, said in a statement. “Families will no longer need to leave the county to be near their loved ones during recovery.

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Lakeland Regional, which cares for more than 4,400 patients annually, has operated as a provisional Level I facility since May 2025.

“The Level I designation expands our ability to care for every patient in our community who needs us,” the hospital's trauma medical director, Dr. Olumide Sobowale, said in the statement. “Being entrusted with providing lifesaving care is an honor shared by every member of our team.”

Generally, a Level I trauma center provides the highest level of care for patients with traumatic injuries of all ages while also serving as a regional resource for trauma education, prevention and research.

Level I centers must be prepared to address the full spectrum of traumatic injuries for all ages 24/7, with immediate access to specially trained providers and critical resources.

Generally, Level I trauma centers include:

• Ongoing trauma education for medical staff, along with injury-prevention programs and community outreach.
• Participation in trauma research and quality-improvement efforts.
• Emergency preparedness planning and drills for events ranging from natural disasters to mass-casualty incidents.
• 24/7 availability of trauma surgeons, specialists, trauma-trained nurses, operating rooms, intensive care and blood products.

Among Lakeland Regional's Level 1 assets are: four hybrid operating rooms, an orthopedic traumatology program, and advanced capabilities such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and the use of whole blood for adult massive transfusions.

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Additionally, the hospital's Bannasch Institute is the only inpatient acute rehabilitation facility in Polk County accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

The state certification is significant, although Lakeland Regional has not received verification through the American College of Surgeons’ peer-reviewed trauma center program, which is widely considered the national gold standard for trauma center quality.

State-Designated Trauma Centers

LEVEL I

1. Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola (ACS)
2. Broward Health Medical Center (ACS), Fort Lauderdale
3. Delray Medical Center, Delray Beach
4. HCA Florida Kendall Hospital (ACS), Miami
5. Jackson Memorial Hospital (ACS), Miami
6. Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center
7. Memorial Regional Hospital (ACS)
8. Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center (ACS)
9. St. Mary’s Medical Center, West Palm Beach
10. Tampa General Hospital (ACS)
11. UF Health Jacksonville (ACS)
12. UF Health Shands Hospital (ACS), Gainesville

LEVEL II

1. Ascension Sacred Heart Bay, Panama City
2. Baptist Hospital, Pensacola
3. Broward Health North, Pompano Beach
4. Gulf Coast Medical Center (Lee Health), Fort Myers
5. Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach
6. HCA Florida Aventura Hospital (ACS)
7. HCA Florida Bayonet Point Hospital (ACS), Hudson
8. HCA Florida Blake Hospital (ACS), Sarasota
9. HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital (ACS)
10. HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital (ACS), Sanford
11. HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital (ACS), Fort Pierce
12. HCA Florida Memorial Hospital, Jacksonville
13. HCA Florida Ocala Hospital (ACS)
14. HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital
15. HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, Kissimmee
16. Holmes Regional Medical Center (Health First), Melbourne
17. Jackson South Medical Center, Miami
18. Sarasota Memorial Hospital
19. St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital (BayCare), Tampa
20. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (FSU Health)

PEDIATRIC

1. Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (Pediatric), St. Petersburg
2. Nicklaus Children’s Hospital (Pediatric), Miami
3. Wolfson Children’s Hospital (Pediatric), Jacksonville
4. St. Joseph’s Hospital (BayCare), Tampa

(ACS) – also verified as a Level 1 center by the American College of Surgeons