HOSPITAL TRAUMA CHANGE SHOULD NOT BE TRAUMATIC

All hospitals in Southeast Missouri are relinquishing their "trauma" designations due to new state regulations. But the news should prove far from traumatic for the general public.

The hospitals including Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center will continue to provide the same level of care for those patients with life-threatening injuries.

Although local hospitals would like the designation, regulations were just not cost-effective. We agree with hospital officials that expending considerable capital for a piece of paper to hang on a wall doesn't make sense. In a time of skyrocketing medical costs, we all must tighten our belts. That includes health care consumers and providers alike.

In a metropolitan area, the loss of designation could mean a loss of patients, but that shouldn't prove the case here. Under state regulations, emergency personnel are supposed to transport persons with life-threatening injuries to the nearest trauma center, providing the trip can be made in a maximum of 20 minutes. Otherwise, the person will be transported to the nearest hospital. Since all hospitals in Southeast Missouri have opted out of the program, this rule should have no effect here.

Under the new regulations, "trauma" hospitals would be required to staff operating rooms 24 hours a day. The rules would also require hospitals to maintain a certain number of surgeons on call for medical emergencies. These rules seem geared to metropolitan hospitals with larger medical staffs and a greater number of trauma cases. No exceptions were made for hospitals in more rural settings.

The trauma center designation began as a voluntary state program in 1981, based on certain equipment and staffing needs. But the regulations were changed in 1989, and are now taking effect. As a result, a number of more rural hospitals are opting out.

Hospital officials in Southeast Missouri have assured the public that the change will not affect the present level of trauma care. If that's the case, the public should continue to be well served in times of emergencies.