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The Business of Health Care Report
Today, our discussion will focus on trauma-care funding, an
increasingly worrisome topic for health care. According to statistics from the Texas Institute for Health
Policy Research, trauma kills more people in the United States between the ages of 1 and 44 than any other disease
or illness. In Texas alone, almost 30 deaths a day are attributed to trauma - that's more than 10,000 Texans lost
every year to injuries that are typically consequences of vehicle accidents, falls, drownings, gun shots, fires,
stabbings or assaults. In 2001, Texas had the highest number of automobile-related
fatalities in the nation. Many of those deaths could have been avoided if state funds had been available to support
more trauma-care facilities. Nationally, studies show that 20 to 40 percent of trauma-related deaths could have
been avoided if the patient had access to adequate trauma care. Contrasted with other areas of acute care, trauma care is
based on the premise that patients with severe injuries need immediate aid from health care professionals in
specialized fields, such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, pediatrics, plastic surgery and cardiology, for an optimum
chance at survival. If patients reach care within the first 60 minutes after
injury, their chances of survival multiply. The problem within many communities, however, is that adequate
trauma care simply is not available. In Collin County, for example, there is no designated trauma-care
hospital even though it is one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States. Consequently, precious time is
lost when victims must be transported to Dallas to receive specialized trauma care. It is time to see these numbers change. In 2001, legislation was
enacted in Texas establishing a $10.5 million endowment to support trauma-care coverage throughout the state.
Additional funding is desperately needed to further the development of the state's trauma-care system. While dollars and budgets are tight, those of us in health
care are hopeful that the Legislature will make trauma care a priority. For Texas Health Resources
and its family of hospitals - Harris Methodist Hospitals, Presbyterian
Healthcare System and Arlington Memorial Hospital - I'm CEO Doug
Hawthorne with "The Business of Health Care Report" on NewsRadio
1080 KRLD. Sources: Source: Texas Institute for Health
Policy Research:
©
2003 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report" on 