Every doctor’s office, urgent care, emergency room, or hospital can offer a different level of care and services. ERs and hospitals offer more services than a doctor's office or an urgent care. Yet, not all ERs are created equally, and some are limited or offer many services.

Each Emergency room gets a designation based on its capabilities. Each specific designation is based on the staffing, the equipment, and the supporting hospital’s services. Designations can include community, area or regional or specialty centers. Using the ERs from the Long Beach Medical Center, South Nassau Communities Hospital and Nassau University Medical Center as examples, here is some information why one E.R. may be more appropriate for an ambulance to transport a specific patient to.

LBMC’s emergency room had a community level designation — it was a recognized as with all emergency rooms as a stroke center, but it wasn’t the appropriate choice for ambulances to transport pediatrics, heart attacks, trauma, burns or OBGYN patients to. This was not a poor reflection of its staff, which in my interactions has always expressed care to best of their abilities. It was based on the equipment and facilities that the hospital maintained.

South Nassau's ER is designated as an area trauma center where you can bring moderate trauma related patients, as well as obstetrics, pediatrics, STEMI heart attacks, as well as everything that a community ER covers.

NUMC’s ER is a regional trauma center that has more capabilities than of an area ER It is also additionally appropriate for burns, hyperbaric and other specialty services.

Hopefully this information helped add some certainty to your medical safety. If you are suffering from a medical emergency in Long Beach, be assured that if you call for help you will be treated appropriately. Also know that you still have options in town for appropriate care, and calling for an ambulance or going to the ER may not always be the best choice.