Burn Centers in California, Texas and Washington

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

We checked every row against the ABA Find a Burn Center directory on November 5, 2026, and the California rows against the state EMS Authority’s list updated December 2, 2025. Each center name links to its ABA listing. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite this page; please also cite the ABA directory, which is the primary source and changes over time.

What “ABA-verified” means

The ABA directory sorts centers into two groups: “ABA Verified Burn Centers” and “Other Burn Centers.” Verification is decided by the ABA Verification Review Committee, which checks whether a burn center meets the criteria the ABA has set (California EMSA). A center can be verified for adults, for children, or for both.

A center in the “other” group still treats burn patients. In California, a local emergency medical services agency can designate a burn center on its own authority, and the California EMS Authority does not assign designations itself; it publishes what the local agencies report (EMSA). For Texas and Washington, the tables show the ABA directory status only.

Totals by state

California burn centers

“Patients (ABA)” is the patient type on the ABA listing. “EMSA status” is the California EMS Authority’s column for the same center: verified by the ABA, or designated by the local EMS agency, for adults, children or both.

Two notes on California. The West Hills unit was the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital until UCLA Health acquired the hospital and burn center in spring 2024 (UCLA Health); news reports from the January 2025 fires still used the Grossman name (The Spokesman-Review). A different Grossman Burn Center, at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, 420 34th St., was scheduled to close on June 30, 2026 (Dignity Health public notice; Becker’s Hospital Review). It still appeared as a locally designated adult center on EMSA’s December 2025 list, but it is no longer in the ABA directory, so it is left out of the totals.

For the three California centers in the “other” group, the ABA listing shows adult and pediatric patients while EMSA’s list shows a local designation for adults only. We report both as published.

Texas burn centers

Hospital sources confirm several of the verified listings. Parkland reports it was re-verified as both an adult and a pediatric burn center (Parkland). The Army Institute of Surgical Research reports that the ABA Verification Review Committee voted to verify its burn center (USAISR). UMC in Lubbock describes its burn center as one of only four ABA-verified burn centers in Texas (UMC); the ABA directory currently lists six. In the directory, Houston’s only listed burn center is in the “other” group, and the nearest verified centers are in Galveston.

Washington burn center

UW Medicine’s own page says the unit is verified by both the American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (UW Medicine). On the Department of Health’s May 2026 trauma list, Harborview is the one hospital in the state with a Level I adult designation (DOH). The ABA directory lists no other Washington hospital.

When a burn should go to a burn center: the ABA referral guidelines

The American Burn Association publishes guidelines for when a burn patient should be referred to a burn center (ABA referral guidelines; one-page PDF). They are written for doctors and EMS crews. They sort cases into two tiers.

Immediate consultation, with consideration of transfer:

Consultation recommended:

The ABA defines a pediatric patient as 14 years old or younger, or under 30 kilograms. It notes that the Rule of Nines used to estimate burn size is most accurate for adults and recommends the Lund and Browder chart for children and infants. The guidelines set no separate TBSA thresholds by age.

Why the burn center matters in an injury claim

Where a patient was treated shapes the medical record. A burn center chart is where we look first for burn depth, the percentage of body surface burned, each surgery and the plan for later reconstruction, because those facts drive the value of a burn claim. If a burn met the ABA criteria and the patient was never referred, that gap may matter in a claim against the treating hospital. Our burn injury lawyer guide explains how the medical future is built into a claim, and our state pages cover the rules in California, Texas and Washington.

For the scale of burn injuries nationally and in these three states, see our burn statistics. For two common burn types, see scald burns and chemical burns.

How to cite this page

Beverly Law, “Burn Centers in California, Texas and Washington,” beverlylaw.org, checked against the American Burn Association directory on November 5, 2026, and the California EMS Authority list updated December 2, 2025. Corrections are welcome at (310) 552-6959.

Talk to a burn injury lawyer

If someone else caused your burn or your child’s in California, Texas or Washington, we can request the burn center records and review them with you. Call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959 for a free, confidential case review in English or Spanish. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.

Common questions

Related pages

Burn Injury Lawyer

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.