Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center will fill a gap in critical care after Virginia designated it a provisional Level 3 trauma center.
Doctors at the hospital said the designation means faster treatment for seriously injured people in the Williamsburg area.
The hospital has been preparing and training for years. As a trauma center, it must have an operating room ready within 30 minutes of an emergency. Patients previously faced 45-minute or longer ambulance rides to Richmond or Newport News for a similar level of care.
“By having developed these systems, these patients are getting plugged in quicker," said Dr. Taylor Walsh, Sentara Williamsburg's trauma medical director. “We want to grow the care in Williamsburg and prevent people from having to leave” for treatment.
Sentara Williamsburg will still likely have to transfer patients with more complex injuries to higher-level centers at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News and Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. But Walsh said it will be able to buy patients time by stabilizing them before sending them by ambulance or helicopter.
“You have only so much intervention that you can do in the back of an ambulance to try and maintain that person that's already going to be behind the eight ball when they arrive at a hospital,” he said.
The first 60 minutes after a traumatic injury, such as a gunshot wound or serious car accident, is called the “golden hour” by doctors; it’s a target for starting care that’s commonly associated with greater survival rates.
Williamsburg and more than 87% of James City County residents lived in a trauma center desert, according to a 2025 report by GoodRx Research. More than 68% of New Kent and 61% of Charles City counties were as well. The numbers on the Middle Peninsula, which includes Gloucester, Mathews and Middlesex counties, are consistently as poor or worse.
The provisional designation carries for a year. Sentara Williamsburg will then go through another review to get recognized as a full trauma center. Lauren Faunce, trauma program manager, said the hospital would then go through reviews every three years.
Being on the I-64 corridor, Faunce said Sentara Williamsburg needs to be prepared for all emergencies. The majority of trauma cases, however, aren’t gunshot wounds. They’re more commonly accidents and falls. Many of the patients are older adults, and the number and percentage of older residents in the Historic Triangle is increasing.
“If their spouse wants to come visit — whether they can still drive or not — being able to get down to somewhere that's almost an hour away is very difficult,” Faunce said.
But it’s not all about treatment. Designated trauma centers also must offer classes on injury awareness and prevention, such as how to fall safely, reduce fall risks, concussion clinics and stop-the-bleed training.
Faunce said whether it’s a child hurt on a playground or someone who fell and has a head cut, the hospital can “equip those community members with the ability to treat that until somebody from pre-hospital can get there, or they get to the hospital.”
