NIKKI: These new trauma centers are Level II trauma centers. If you get shot, if you get stabbed, if you wreck your motorcycle or get in a nasty car accident, you’re going to need surgery and highly specialized care to handle that. They’re staffed to deal with major, major trauma. NIKKI: Well let’s start with the basics: What is a trauma center and how is it different from a typical ER?ĪBE: Trauma centers are emergency rooms on steroids. All these trauma centers in the state started seeing patients this week. These are both owned by for-profit hospital system HCA. But that’s not the case anymore.ĪBE: No, we now have Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee and Central Florida Regional in Sanford opening Level II trauma centers. NIKKI: Historically, there’s been one trauma center in Central Florida, and that’s Orlando Regional Medical Center. All three facilities are within 10-15 miles of each other in Palm Beach County.įurther, the county’s Health Care District trauma plan says the area is “adequately served by the current trauma system,” the complaint said.For years, hospitals in Florida have been fighting over the right to add new trauma centers. That fight came to an end this week, as four new trauma centers opened in Florida: One in Miami, one in Sarasota, and two in Central Florida.ĩ0.7 Health Reporter Abe Aboraya spoke with Morning Edition Host Nicole Creston: Mary’s are the only trauma centers in their area, the suit said. One bill ( HB 1077), set to be heard Monday by the House Health Innovation Subcommittee, would do away with the trauma service areas and place no limit on the number of trauma centers.ĭelray and St. Lawmakers again have introduced trauma center-related legislation for the 2017 Legislative Session. There were 33 centers, including for pediatric care, as of mid-2016. The Legislature divided the state into 19 trauma service areas and capped the statewide total of trauma centers at 44, with each area allowed a certain number. In 2014, an administrative law judge upheld regulations that came after three years of legal and legislative wrangling, much of which related to newly opened trauma centers in Pasco, Manatee and Marion counties. The opening of new trauma centers has stoked discord for the last few several years, with hospitals lobbing accusations of unfair competition at each other. If JFK opens a center, that will “divert patients and revenue away” from the plaintiffs, the complaint said, leaving them “irreparably harmed.” They’re now seeking an injunction against the department, saying it doesn’t have the authority to consider the JFK application. They both operate Level 1 trauma centers-the higher level of trauma care.Īt issue is an application from JFK Medical Center in Atlantis to open a new Level 2 trauma center. Both trauma levels require round-the-clock availability to surgeons, for instance, but a Level 2 doesn’t have to engage in research or offer a medical residency program. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach last week sued the Florida Department of Health in Leon County Circuit Civil court. Another high-profile court fight over new trauma centers opening in Florida has begun in Tallahassee, even as lawmakers prepare to tinker with state law governing such facilities.Īs a pre-emptive strike, Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach and St.
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