Georgia’s struggling trauma care system scored a win this week with Atlanta Medical Center becoming metro Atlanta's second Level I trauma facility, which treats the most severely injured patients.
The downtown Atlanta hospital’s new Level I status is the culmination of years of effort -- adding new equipment, more specialty surgeons and larger operating rooms, said trauma coordinator Rochella Mood. With roughly 2,200 trauma cases annually, it's the region’s second such facility, alongside Grady Memorial Hospital.
The hospital’s move to Level I is a plus for Atlanta residents with the rapidly growing metro area in need of a second trauma center, said Kevin Bloye, spokesman for the Georgia Hospital Association.
Still, the state’s poorly funded trauma system continues to deal with a lack of facilities -- especially throughout large swaths of rural Georgia -- and an overall trauma death rate above the national average. While the state has 18 trauma centers, some experts say it should have as many as 30 to ensure residents are within an hour of one.
Atlanta Medical Center gets trauma patients from more than 50 hospitals across Georgia -- helping to make it the state’s third-busiest trauma center, Mood said. “There’s just a whole area of people that are underserved that really can’t get to a trauma center within a reasonable period of time.”
Patients who have been critically injured in car crashes, falls and other accidents have a greater chance of surviving if they receive care within one hour.
While becoming a Level I is great for Atlanta Medical, it doesn’t necessarily improve access to trauma care for most of Georgia, since it’s only a mile away from Grady Memorial Hospital, said Grady spokesman Matt Gove.
Still, the state’s system is slowly moving in the right direction, said Dr. Dennis Ashley, chair of the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission. “It’s all about access for patients ... so everybody has the same chance at survival.”
Georgia has struggled to build up its trauma network over the years, in part, because it lacks a sustainable funding source.
Legislators injected nearly $60 million into the system three years ago. Since then, funding has been cut to a fraction of that after revenue from a law targeting drivers who speed excessively fell far short of the $23 million a year it was expected to bring in. The state allocated $10.5 million to the trauma commission in fiscal year 2011 -- split among the trauma centers and an effort to create a statewide communications system.
Atlanta Medical Center’s share of state trauma funding for fiscal year 2011 dropped to just under $400,000, compared with nearly $3.8 million in fiscal 2009, according to trauma commission data. A Level I trauma center spends an estimated $5 million each year in staffing, equipment and other costs just to be ready to get patients.
While funding has had its ups and downs, the goal is to meet the community’s needs, said Robert Russell, Atlanta Medical Center’s chief operating officer. Russell added that a Level I designation helps bolster the hospital’s reputation as a leader in trauma care and could help increase business overall.
While the state has added some trauma centers in recent years, such as Level II Athens Regional Medical Center in 2009, the lack of a permanent funding source has advocates worried. Georgia residents voted down a push last year to add $10 to vehicle registration fees that would have provided between $80 million and $90 million for trauma care.
Many hospitals lose money on caring for trauma patients who are expensive to treat and are often uninsured or underinsured. Bloye with the hospital association said he hopes a new resolution that would allocate a portion of existing tag fees to trauma care will pass next year.
Without financial help, some hospitals might get out of the trauma business all together, he said. “It’s a very fragile situation.”
Trauma centers in Georgia
The state rates trauma centers Level I through IV, based on the extent of services offered. Level I facilities are the most advanced and must operate 24 hours a day and have a full surgical suite, among other requirements. Level I centers also train medical residents and conduct research.
Level I trauma centers
Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta
Atlanta Medical Center, Atlanta
Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon
MCGHealth Medical Center, Augusta
Memorial University Medical Center, Savannah
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