Judge blocks new trauma center at St. Petersburg's Northside Hospital

In a 46-page order, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers noted that Florida law allows only two trauma centers in the "trauma service area" that encompasses Pinellas and Pasco counties. The region already has two: the one at Bayfront and another at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point. Gievers blocked Northside from pressing ahead until ongoing administrative hearings on the state trauma rules are completed.