Guest AuthorThe Florida Senate’s Appropriations Committee continues to move forward with a plan that would help create a 21st-century trauma system for this state. The measure, SB1276, intelligently aims to establish a new framework and underlying mechanism to provide citizens with high-quality, accessible trauma care and includes a provision that would allow three trauma centers in Manatee, Pasco and Marion counties to remain open.
Since the opening of these three trauma centers, residents of these communities have had access to state-of-the-art, Level II trauma centers at Blake Medical Center, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point and Ocala Regional Medical Center. For these previously underserved areas, providing readily accessible trauma care is critical, especially given how frightening and life-changing traumatic injuries can be for patients and for their families. Having operational trauma centers in such close geographic proximity to the area of need is essential in preventing mortality and lifelong disability.
Since these trauma centers have opened, specialized and experienced medical professionals have treated more than 4,000 patients. With the trauma team on site and available around the clock and with highly advanced equipment available 24 hours a day to handle traumatic injuries, the centers have achieved survival rates that are on par with or above the state average. The strategic geographic placement of these facilities has proven to be an essential element in boosting trauma victims’ chances of survival.
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point is midway between the Tampa Bay area and Gainesville, cutting the transport time for trauma victims by half. And Blake Medical Center, located south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, provides medical transport a direct route to immediate trauma care without the challenges caused by traffic congestion and bad weather that can dramatically increase transport times and negate the opportunity for helicopter transport, thereby putting patients’ lives at risk. Enabling quicker access to immediate care has been a critical part of our trauma professionals’ objective to treat patients within 60 minutes of initial injury. Reaching a trauma center within this window of time, known as the “golden hour,” can often mean the difference between life and death for critically injured victims.
Despite the efforts of the trauma centers to save lives and better serve our communities, there has been a continued push by competing hospitals to shut these facilities down. Tampa General, St. Joseph’s and Bayfront Medical Center have collectively attempted legal maneuvers that would force these three trauma centers to close their doors, ultimately making trauma care far less accessible for those who need it. Medical evidence provided by the Florida Department of Health reveals that better proximity and greater availability of care positively impact outcomes for patients.
In a recent study regarding trauma center closures, researchers found that the odds of death increased by 21 percent among trauma patients who experienced longer drive times to a trauma center as result of those closures. From the point of view of a physician whose foremost duty is to see that the care provided in our hospitals is safe and effective, this attempt to decrease access to trauma care is disheartening and not based on medical evidence. It is critical to foster more flexible and effective emergency care systems, and we should not be working at odds to achieve the opposite. Florida’s trauma victims and their families deserve to know that they will be able to receive the quality care they need within minutes if and when tragedy strikes.
It is unmistakable that each of our trauma centers is not only critical to the community that it serves but is improving survival rates, and has shown no negative impact on the quality of care. Unfortunately, this debate has taken a negative turn; ideally trauma center providers would be working together to strengthen the state’s trauma system with the Department of Health, not weaken it. Fortunately, legislators in Tallahassee have put forth a bill that recognizes the already-approved and operational trauma centers, thus protecting and strengthening their communities, and halting the forum shopping of legal challenges that seek to limit competition and access to care.
For the trauma centers in Manatee, Pasco and Marion counties, the effort to save lives will continue to be our greatest priority. Let’s hope that others across the state will share this vision and do whatever is necessary to provide the best care system for Florida’s trauma patients and their families.
Larry J. Feinman, D.O., is the chief medical officer of HCA West Florida Division. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
