Acute Care Surgery
About Us
Acute Care Surgery is the field of surgery that encompasses Trauma, Critical Care and Emergency Surgery. It has taken the principals of organized trauma care (multidisciplanary teams, evidence-based processes and procedures, and continuous quality improvement) and applied them to patients with other urgent, time-sensitive surgical conditions. Thus, our Acute Care Surgery team provides the full range of care to patients who are critically ill with acute surgical emergencies, shock, severe sepsis, respiratory failure, and advanced multi-organ failure, in addition to caring for patients with traumatic injuries.
Stanford Health Care's Trauma program provides the full range of patient care services for both adult and pediatric trauma patients. Stanford's Trauma Center was established in 1986 and is designated by Santa Clara County EMS and verified by American College of Surgeons as a Level I trauma center. It serves both Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.
The program serves primarily northern Santa Clara and southern San Mateo counties and also collaborates with surrounding counties to coordinate trauma patient care and provide referral resources for their patients who require highly specialized care.
Program Priorities
The vision of the Trauma Program at Stanford University Medical Center and Lucille Packard Children's Hospital is to achieve national prominence through leadership and innovative contribution to the care of injured and critically ill patients.
The Missions of the Trauma Program are to:
- provide the highest quality of care for all injured and critically ill children and adults of the Peninsula and Greater Bay Area
- provide comprehensive and effective violence and injury prevention programs for both children and adults
- advance knowledge and improve patient care through injury and critical illness research
- develop a trauma outcomes research program that focuses on the psychological effect of trauma on patients and their families and initiate treatment to minimize the long-term consequences.
Our goal is to develop a patient-centered program that will address the needs of each patient but which will also enable us to address these larger issues and improve the results for all trauma patients.
Surgeons in this section see patients for trauma follow-up and general surgery care at the Stanford Healthcare Pavilion A in the main hospital. This website will provide access to contact information: Trauma Service.
Trauma Surgeons
Michelle Woodfall, MS, CNS, RN, CEN, CCRN
Critical Care and Trauma Clinical Nurse Specialist & Trauma, Acute Care Surgery, Stroke, and Telestroke Director
Stanford SWAT
Stanford SWAT (Surgeons Writing About Trauma) is the trauma and acute care surgery research group at Stanford Health Care. For more information, click here or contact surgeonswritingabouttrauma@stanford.edu.
Chest Wall Injury Center
Stanford Health Care offers the only dedicated Chest Wall Injury Center on the West Coast. We provide expert care if you or your loved one have experienced major trauma to the chest. Major trauma includes broken ribs, displaced ribs, nonhealing rib fractures, and chest wall hernias.