FL trauma center network still gaining traction

USF Health and HCA Healthcare in 2010 created a statewide trauma network designed to study and improve higher-level emergency room care at suburban hospitals. The last of the five, Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, opened its trauma center six months ago. Since then, information on thousands of trauma patients has been compiled and evolved into an increasingly meaningful database, said James Hurst, medical director of the USF/HCA trauma network. The multicenter data analyses can get under way in six months, with findings published in academic journals in a year, he said.