Guest AuthorThe recent 60-foot wide sinkhole just outside of Orlando, in a town not far from my own, is an unfortunate reminder that our state and our community must be ready for natural disasters and other traumatic events to strike without warning. Fortunately, guests at the resort just outside Disney World were all evacuated and everyone was safe. As we have witnessed in the past, that will not always be the case.
To best protect the lives of our citizens, local communities across the state, likemy community, The Villages (only minutes from Ocala), need to be prepared to act swiftly and have the necessary tools to save lives when our community is most vulnerable. Perhaps the most important of these tools is a safeguard in the form of an accessible local trauma center with staff, ready and trained to provide quality care twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.
The provisional level II trauma center at Ocala Regional Medical Center is certainly a needed safeguard in our community. Unfortunately, Shands Gainesville have pursued unnecessary self-interested lawsuits in order to prevent the verification of Ocala Regional Medical Center’s trauma center. This campaign against our area’s trauma center does not stem from patient needs; this campaign stems from these hospitals’ desire to monopolize trauma care without concern for patient safety.
Our community benefits greatly from the trauma center at Ocala Regional Medical Center for a variety of reasons outside its needed trauma services. Since this hospital is privately funded, our area has a state-of-the-art trauma facility without taxpayer dollars. Already, millions of dollars have been invested in the Ocala area since the opening of the trauma center. This investment has included jobs in construction, direct healthcare, and other indirect jobs (i.e. vendors of the trauma center). This state-of-the-art trauma facility will continue to help the area move forward, making the Ocala area – including The Villages – a safer and more desirable location for new businesses.
Because the Department of Health (DOH) is currently rewriting the trauma center allocation rule, it has the opportunity to better protect all Floridians’ lives with increased access to trauma centers statewide. Hopefully, the rule makers will listen to pleas like my own and the one from Osceola city officials and will understand our need for access to local quality trauma care.
Not only are we in the thick of hurricane season, but this recent sinkhole is a reminder that unexpected disasters happen and being prepared is of utmost importance. For The Villages, we are fortunate enough to have a trauma center almost in our “backyard” so that our citizens have the best possible chance at survival. However, it is incumbent upon the Department of Health to ensure our entire state is prepared to save more lives when tragedy strikes with a trauma rule that puts our communities at the forefront.
Submitted by Gail Lazenby, Captain, The Villages Fire Rescue.
