1. The board shall establish a program for treating persons who require treatment for trauma and for transporting and admitting such persons to centers for the treatment of trauma. The program must provide for the development, operation and maintenance of a system of communication to be used in transporting such persons to the appropriate centers.

2. The State Board of Health shall adopt regulations which establish the standards for the designation of hospitals as centers for the treatment of trauma. The State Board of Health shall consider the standards adopted by the American College of Surgeons for a center for the treatment of trauma as a guide for such regulations. The Administrator of the Division shall not approve a proposal to designate a hospital as a center for the treatment of trauma unless:

(a) The hospital meets the standards established pursuant to this subsection; and

(b) The Administrator determines, after conducting a comprehensive assessment of needs, that the proposed center for the treatment of trauma will operate in an area that is experiencing a shortage of trauma care. Such an assessment of needs must include, without limitation, consideration of:

(1) The impact of the proposed center for the treatment of trauma on the capacity of existing hospitals to provide for the treatment of trauma;

(2) The number and locations of cases of trauma that have occurred during the previous 5 calendar years in the county in which the proposed center for the treatment of trauma will be located and the level of treatment that was required for those cases;

(3) Any identified need for an additional center for the treatment of trauma in the county in which the proposed center for the treatment of trauma will be located; and

(4) Any additional criteria recommended by the American College of Surgeons or its successor organization, other than criteria related to community support for the proposed trauma center.

3. Each district board of health in a county whose population is 700,000 or more shall adopt:

(a) Regulations which establish the standards for the designation of hospitals in the county as centers for the treatment of trauma which are consistent with the regulations adopted by the State Board of Health pursuant to subsection 2; and

(b) A plan for a comprehensive trauma system concerning the treatment of trauma in the county, which includes, without limitation, consideration of the future trauma needs of the county, consideration of and plans for the development and designation of new centers for the treatment of trauma in the county based on the demographics of the county and the manner in which the county may most effectively provide trauma services to persons in the county.

4. A district board of health in a county whose population is 700,000 or more shall not approve a proposal to designate a hospital as a center for the treatment of trauma unless:

(a) The hospital meets the standards established pursuant to subsection 3;

(b) The proposal has been approved by the Administrator of the Division pursuant to subsection 2; and

(c) The district board of health concludes, based on the plan adopted pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 3, that the proposed center for the treatment of trauma will not negatively impact the capacity of existing centers for the treatment of trauma in the county.

5. Upon approval by the Administrator of the Division and, if the hospital is located in a county whose population is 700,000 or more, the district board of health of the county in which the hospital is located, of a proposal to designate a hospital as a center for the treatment of trauma, the Administrator of the Division shall issue written approval which designates the hospital as such a center. As a condition of continuing designation of the hospital as a center for the treatment of trauma, the hospital must comply with the following requirements:

(a) The hospital must admit any injured person who requires medical care.

(b) Any physician who provides treatment for trauma must be qualified to provide that treatment.

(c) The hospital must maintain the standards specified in the regulations adopted pursuant to subsections 2 and 3.

(Added to NRS by 1987, 1042; A 1993, 2835; 2005, 1349; 2011, 1273; 2019, 4039)