JFK Memorial Hospital Celebrates New Designation as Riverside County’s only Level 4 Trauma Center

Special Event to include Local Community Leaders, Hospital Administration, and Riverside County Emergency Medical Services

INDIO, Calif. September 29, 2021 — JFK Memorial Hospital today celebrated its new designation as a Level 4 Trauma Center at a special event held inside the lobby of the hospital. As the first Level 4 Trauma Center in Riverside County and the first trauma center in the Eastern Coachella Valley, JFK Memorial Hospital will provide 24/7 advanced trauma life support to patients in need. The hospital will deliver a higher level of care for residents in Indio and the surrounding communities. .

“This is an exciting time for the residents of the Eastern Coachella Valley,” said Gary Honts, CEO of JFK Memorial Hospital. “Before this designation, trauma patients from Indio, Coachella and in our surrounding communities would need to be transported as far as Palm Springs. For the first time in our community, patients will be able to access advanced trauma life support right here in their own backyard. As a Level 4 Trauma Center, JFK Memorial Hospital will now be able to evaluate, stabilize, and diagnose patients.”

With this new designation, Desert Care Network has now doubled the number of trauma centers in the Coachella Valley. The new trauma center at JFK Memorial Hospital joins Desert Regional’s Level 2 Trauma Center in Palm Springs.

“Desert Care Network is committed to providing access to advanced care close to home for residents of the Eastern Coachella Valley,” said Michele Finney, CEO of Desert Care Network. “This designation is just one more example of how our hospitals are making investments to ensure that all members of our community have the healthcare they need.”

In 2019, JFK Memorial Hospital became a Primary Stroke Center, providing critical new services and partnering with the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Desert Regional Medical Center and the Stroke-Ready Receiving Center at Hi-Desert to create a desert-wide network of hospitals to treat stroke.