Florida considers adding more trauma centers

Some doctors say state cap ensures highly trained specialists

TALLAHASSEE — After a gunman opened fire inside the Pulse nightclub last summer, the most seriously injured victims were rushed a half-mile to Orlando Regional Medical Center.

There, doctors and nurses in Florida’s busiest trauma center sprang into action treating nearly four dozen patients from the nation’s deadliest mass shooting. They had practiced repeatedly for such an occasion.

“Trauma care is something that you don’t really pay attention to until you need it,” said Dr. Michael Cheatham, a surgeon who was working in the hospital that morning.

Politicians in Tallahassee are paying attention. Republicans are pushing to make it easier for more trauma centers to open, particularly in rural areas, by lifting caps on their number in each part of the state.

They say they want to make the highest level of care available to more Florida residents.

“The bottom line is we need more trauma centers,” said state Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City. “Really what we are trying to focus on is to make sure that we have greater access for people.”

But many trauma doctors, including some who treated the Pulse shooting victims, say that’s a bad idea. They say caps on the number of trauma centers ensure each is filled with highly trained specialists, in densely populated areas where they get plenty of practice treating everything from bullet wounds to car crash injuries.

Critical lawmakers say Republicans are trying to fix something that already works.

“Our system is well-regarded across the nation,” said state Rep. Nick Duran, D-Miami. “So it is difficult for me to understand the reason why we need to bulldoze it.”

State law caps the number of trauma centers at 44. The Department of Health decides how many each community needs based on factors including population and the number of trauma cases each year.

Ten are designated Level One, such as the ones at Orlando Regional, Tampa General Hospital and Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital. They are located in mostly major cities and equipped to handle the toughest cases and biggest disasters.

Legislation filed by Trumbull (HB 1077) to end the caps is gaining steam in the Florida House. It instead would allow the state to designate trauma centers at hospitals that have been certified by national organizations such as the American College of Surgeons.

The bill is set for a vote by the chamber’s health care budget subcommittee today, though a similar measure in the Senate has not had a single hearing.

Trumbull’s proposal does have support from Gov. Rick Scott, a former hospital executive, who in January identified deregulating trauma centers as one of his top health care priorities for the year.