Doctors Hospital’s push for trauma designation sparks backlash
By Tom Corwin, The Augusta Chronicle, Ga. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Even the state director of the office that governs trauma centers said the move could hurt existing ones.
The alliance represents the state's community not-for-profit hospitals, which also operates most of the state's trauma centers such as GRMC, which is a Level 1 trauma center.
Trauma centers have to get an adequate number of patients in order to develop the skills and training to be proficient, said the letter from alliance President
"Having the number of cases is really important," he said. "We have a teaching commitment where we teach the future physicians in the state."
O'Neal, whose office would provide the designation after reviewing months of cases, said he was concerned about adding the trauma centers.
"My great concern with the HCA situation is that there may be a fairly marked change in the number of cases that a given trauma surgeon is able to handle because they get divided up among more hospitals than they need to be," he said.
THE DECISION OF whether a hospital can pursue trauma designation goes first before its regional council, in this case the
According to the minutes of that group from
Ferdinand, who is a member of the council and was at the meeting, said he doesn't recall voting for it but "the concerns that I am voicing now are concerns I had then."
The state generally relies on the regional councils to know their needs better than the state office, so if one votes to designate a center, "we're pretty much obligated to go ahead and designate that facility," O'Neal said.
Normally, he would expect the council to approach the existing trauma center first and assess whether it still has the capacity to handle more patients. Ferdinand said GRMC does still have capacity.
"I was a little surprised that the regional council in Augusta made their most recent recommendation," O'Neal said.
Tucker said if Doctors Hospital can meet all of the criteria for being designated a Level III trauma center, then it should be added.
"I don't understand their logic for that or why they would be against it if they can provide the service," she said.
"I can't see them taking away (patients from GRMC) at all. I'm thinking about geographically if there is a higher level of lifesaving efforts they can make at Doctors as opposed to maybe it's longer to get downtown, then I am all for that. I'm just looking at it as what's best for the community."
DOCTORS HOSPITAL SAID the state's trauma care network is inadequate and "is not providing sufficient access to lifesaving trauma care within the Golden Hour," the first hour after injury when survival chances are highest.
Ferdinand said adding
As a Level III, it would have to provide surgical care within 30 minutes, he said. That half-hour delay could be followed by the surgeon deciding the patient is too injured to treat at
"We set up a situation where the patient gets a delay in their care ultimately when they require a higher level of care than the center is capable of providing," he said.
However,
In its letter, the hospital alliance suggests an ulterior motive on the part of the HCA hospitals by enclosing an article from the
For a comparable Level III trauma patient, GRMC charges
There is apparently no one regulating how much hospitals charge in activation fees.
O'Neal said his office doesn't and neither does the Department of
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