Tampa Bay trauma hospitals gear up for court fight with HCA

Lawyers for Tampa Bay's long-standing trauma programs at Bayfront Medical Center, St. Joseph's Hospital and Tampa General Hospital have argued that the state's approval of new trauma centers at HCA hospitals threatens the quality and financial viability of their services. But so far, Bayfront alone has taken a major hit from trauma programs at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson and Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, which opened late last year. From January to July, Bayfront treated 240 trauma patients from outside Pinellas County—a 68 percent decrease from the same period in 2011, according to hospital figures.