Level III Trauma Center

The Sierra-Sacramento Valley Emergency Medical Services Agency has designated Tahoe Forest Hospital as a Level III Trauma Center. This designation is followed by verification from the American College of Surgeons. This means our emergency medicine team has consistently demonstrated their ability to provide advanced trauma life support, evaluation, stabilization, and diagnostic services. Additionally, it allows our team to prioritize severely injured patients throughout their entire course of stay.

Emergency care available 24 hours a day, seven days a week

Visit an emergency room if you experience a life-threatening injury or illness, including fever in a newborn less than 3 months old. The skilled, professional staff at the emergency rooms of Tahoe Forest Hospital and Incline Village Community Hospital are always available to treat any emergent need requiring immediate attention.

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When to go to the Emergency Room

Our emergency rooms are open 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. If you or a loved one is experiencing any of the symptoms or conditions below, don’t wait. Go to the ER. Our ERs are equipped to provide life-saving care.

  • Chest pain
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Severe burn or uncontrolled bleeding
  • Sudden or severe pain
  • Vomiting blood
  • Intense, crushing headache
  • Sudden dizziness or change in vision
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Seizures or convulsions
  • Severe vomiting or diarrhea
  • Broken bone or deep wound
  • Fever in newborns less than 3 months

Additionally, our hospitals have an onsite laboratory and diagnostic technologies, including x-ray, CAT scan, and ultrasound. Our physicians specialize in winter and summer sport injury, as well as worksite injury.

Emergency Room Physician and Insurance information

Understanding the Importance of a Level III Trauma Center

Brian Evans, Chief Medical Officer, explains the significance of Tahoe Forest Health System’s designation as a Level III Trauma Center. This means that the facility is equipped with specialized resources and trained personnel to handle and stabilize a wide range of traumas. With advanced imaging, skilled physicians, nurses, and technicians, the trauma center provides comprehensive care for both residents and visitors, especially those engaging in high-risk activities like skiing and mountain biking. The team also focuses on prevention strategies and continuous improvement to enhance community safety.

Hi everybody, I’m Brian Evans. I’m the Chief Medical Officer for Tahoe Forest Health System. Today I want to talk a little bit about our Trauma Center designation.

Many of you are aware that Tahoe Forest now has a Level Three Trauma Center designation, but you might be wondering as a community member, what does that mean? Is that a big deal? How does that affect me as a resident, or maybe as a visitor to the North Lake Tahoe area?

What it means for you is that we have specialized resources, people that are trained very specifically on how to deal with traumas of all stripes. We are ready and able to take care of trauma patients who come into the emergency department or are brought to us. We can stabilize them and treat them in a way that is much more comprehensive than if we did not have that Trauma Center designation.

This is a pretty big deal. We’re staffed 24/7. We have physicians who are in some cases trauma surgeons. We have emergency department physicians, nurses, technicians, and many others who support this trauma service team. We have advanced diagnostic imaging, so we can treat a wide variety of things.

As you are aware, in the North Lake Tahoe area, we have millions of people visiting our area every year to take full advantage of what we have to offer recreationally, with skiing, mountain biking, and many other things. Unfortunately, sometimes people end up injured as a result of those activities. We’re now in a position where those people who are visiting, or the people that live here, feel safe because they know that they can access the kind of care that is necessary if they are unfortunate and do have an injury occur.

We’re really proud of this trauma designation. Part of the program involves educating the public. We work on prevention strategies to prevent injuries in the first place as part of our trauma designation. We are also really integrated well with the community in all of these efforts. We also meet on a regular basis to review cases, so we’re continuously improving how we take care of trauma patients at Tahoe Forest.

It’s great to have your support. We’re really excited about this designation, and we will continue to inform you as we go forward with updates about that service and many others as we go. Thank you so much for your support.

COVID-19 Information

Update: January 16, 2023

Please note Tahoe Forest Hospital is currently experiencing a large volume of phone calls regarding COVID-19 testing. We appreciate your patience, and we apologize that you may experience a longer than usual wait time due to the influx of phone calls we are receiving.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT AT TAHOE FOREST HOSPITAL TO INQUIRE ABOUT TESTING SERVICES. If you have an emergency, please do come to our emergency room located at Tahoe Forest Hospital, 10121 Pine Avenue, Truckee, CA. Please be advised that Emergency Department staff cannot provide medical advice over the phone.

COVID testing and treatment options