Department of Surgery
We're There When You Need Us
St. Mary Medical Center is a Level II Trauma Center
When the most critically injured and ill patients are in our Emergency Room, we have highly skilled trauma surgeons inhouse 24 hours a day/7 days, to respond to any emergency. Our patients can be assured of quality care to meet their needs.
St. Mary is an Emergency Services hospital and the Paramedic Base Station for Long Beach.
As a Certified Paramedic Receiving Center, our Emergency Department and Trauma Services are responsible for coordinating the paramedic calls for all of the city's hospitals.
Our physicians are qualified to treat children, too. Our Emergency Department is approved for Pediatrics. Not all Emergency rooms are qualified to handle the needs of children.
When Surgery is Required
Perioperative Services is dedicated to working in a collaborative environment with physicians and other health care professionals to provide quality patient care that is safe, cost effective, multidisciplinary and individualized to meet patient’s needs. We provide a broad spectrum of care comprised of the Operating Room (OR), Short Stay Unit (SSU), Ambulatory SurgiCenter (SC), and the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).
Operating Room
The OR provides care for inpatient and outpatient surgical patients. The OR is located on the 2nd floor of the main hospital. It consists of ten surgical suites and a preoperative holding area. The OR is staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and is a separate special care unit designed and staffed to provide intra-operative care of the surgical patient. The population served includes pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients.
Short Stay Unit
The SSU accepts patients for pre-procedural preparation for same day care; twenty-three hour holds and AM surgical admissions for surgery, radiology, cardiology, and other out-patient service departments. Limited services are provided to medical outpatients, such as blood transfusions.
SSU is a 12-bed unit located on the 2nd floor. The Short Stay RN coordinates patient care activities involving access, treatment, discharge and educational needs of the patient. The RN also coordinates communication between the patient, physician, physician’s office and hospital departments to provide interdisciplinary, compassionate care that promotes health maintenance. It is staffed from 5:00 am -6:30, Monday - Friday, and serves adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients. Family/significant other are encouraged to be with the outpatient during their stay in the Short Stay Unit.
Post Anesthesia Care Unit
The PACU provides nursing care for all inpatients and outpatients who have undergone a surgical or invasive procedure in the Operating Room. The PACU is located on the 2nd floor, adjacent to the OR, and is a 6-bed monitored unit. Services are provided twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
PACU is a separate special care unit designed and staffed to provide intensive observation and post-procedural nursing care to pediatric, adolescent, and adult and geriatric patients.
SurgiCenter
The SurgiCenter provides for the care of outpatient surgical patients. It consists of three surgical suites, post-operative recovery and a pre-operative holding area. Their hours of operation are 7:00 am – 3:30 pm, Monday - Friday. The SC is a separate special care unit designed and staffed to provide intra-operative care of the surgical patient. The SC provides care to pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients.