HCA Trauma Care Network to Expand in FL

HCA and Tampa-based USF Health announced they are forming a statewide trauma network to improve trauma care and centralize research in Florida.

About 38% of trauma patients in Florida receive treatment in a designated trauma center, below both the national average and the state’s goal to have 65% of trauma patients treated in a Florida licensed trauma center, HCA and USF Health said in a joint announcement.

“Getting a patient to a trauma center within the first hour of injury, or golden hour, drastically increases their chance of survival,” says Jonathan Perlin, MD, president of clinical services and CMO for HCA. “Research supported by the Centers for Disease Control shows trauma mortality is reduced when a seriously injured patient is treated at a trauma center versus a non-trauma hospital.”

In Florida, the leading cause of trauma injury is motor vehicle crashes, accounting for 43% of all injuries in 2008. Motor vehicle injury fatalities are strongly associated with the distance from a trauma center to the accident scene, according to the study A Comprehensive Assessment of the Florida Trauma Center, conducted by USF and UF for the Florida Department of Health. The study also notes that counties without trauma centers have higher mortality rates.

“It is absolutely critical that we expand access to trauma care to state-designated trauma service areas not currently being served,” Perlin says. “Trauma centers deliver superior outcomes for their patients and we are excited to have USF join us as we work to improve the access to quality trauma care in Florida.”

Five HCA hospitals across Florida and the University of South Florida College of Medicine will affiliate to create the Florida Trauma Research and Analysis Center, TRAC, a centralized statewide data collection for trauma research and coordination of services. TRAC’s focus on quality patient care and research will improve trauma care in the state, said Stephen Klasko, MD, dean of the USF College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health.

“Our goal is to have Florida be the safest state in the nation,” Klasko says. “This network will provide the state’s trauma patients with consistent and state-of-the-art care.”

David J. Smith Jr., MD, chair of the USF Department of Surgery, says TRAC data from five hospitals will identify trends that might not be noticed at one hospital. “Florida TRAC will help doctors learn how to better treat trauma patients, whether they are injured in car crashes or suffering from heart attacks,” Smith says.

USF will name a chief trauma medical director to oversee the network and appoint a medical director of trauma at each hospital, as well as helping to recruit needed specialists.

The five HCA hospitals are:

1. Blake Medical Center, in Manatee County;
2. Kendall Regional Medical Center, in Miami-Dade County;
3. Lawnwood Medical Center, in St Lucie County;
4. Orange Park Medical Center, in Clay County;
5. Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, in Pasco County. 

All of the hospitals have applied for Level II Trauma Center designation. Lawnwood is approved and operating, and the other four hospitals are in the application process.