Lawmakers Still In Search Of Trauma System Funding
Last updated Thursday, December 27, 2007 7:20 PM CST in News
By Rob Moritz
The Morning News
LITTLE ROCK — The Legislature won’t meet in regular session for another year, but lawmakers are already considering options on where to find $25 million for a statewide network of trauma centers.
Funding for a proposed system nearly universally acclaimed was one of the major pieces of unfinished business from this year’s regular legislative session.
“I think the consensus was during the session that everybody supported it. The problem was how do we pay for it,” Senate President Pro Tem Jack Critcher, D-Batesville, said Thursday.
Funding was expected to be among the topics discussed today at a joint meeting of the House and Senate Committees on Public Health, Welfare and Labor in Batesville.
Critcher is chairman of the Senate committee. Health officials from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences were to attend the meeting.
Arkansas is the only state without a Level 1 trauma center, and one of three states without a statewide trauma system.
Dr. J. Michael Gruenwald, head of orthopedic trauma surgery at UAMS, and chairman of the Governor’s Trauma Advisory Council, said Thursday that with a statewide trauma system, emergency medical personnel could make assessments at the scene of an injury and take the patient directly to the most appropriate hospital, saving precious time. He estimated 200 to 600 lives could be saved annually.
The nearest Level 1 facility is in Memphis.
“The problem that we are having in the state is that surgeons, emergency physicians ... do not participate in the periphery of the state,” Gruenwald said.
A trauma center system would guarantee that every emergency room involved would have surgeons on duty to help people injured in accidents, he said.
The $25 million would be placed in a revolving trust fund that would be used by hospitals to upgrade their emergency rooms to trauma centers. With the state’s share, matching funds would provide about $40 million for the program.
Hospitals would be divided into four classifications, with a Level One facility offering the highest level of trauma service and a Level Four the lowest.
“Clearly (funding) is something that the Legislature is going to have to grapple with,” Gruenwald said.
This year, Rep. Denny Sumpter, D-West Memphis, proposed legislation that would have added a $50 fee on traffic tickets and DWI citations to raise the money. The Arkansas Municipal League and the Association of Arkansas Counties opposed that proposal.
The measure was approved in the House but amended in the Senate after some senators said putting the entire cost on traffic violators was unfair.
The Senate voted to impose a $1 per month per vehicle fee on auto insurance premiums.
Gov. Mike Beebe favored the House version.
House and Senate members met in a conference committee toward the end of the session but could not agree on a funding source.
Gruenwald said Thursday that most states fund their trauma systems with an additional fee on traffic tickets or a violation.
Sumpter, who is a member of the House public health panel, said Thursday he is ready to consider all funding options.
He said he plans to meet with state finance officials to see “what taxes could be raised without being a big, big tax burden.”
“What we need is to find a tax that we can spread far enough and wide enough so it doesn’t hurt any one particular group,” he said.
Sumpter, who is term limited, also suggested using surplus revenue if there is enough available in 2009.
Reader Comments (No comments posted.)
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.
Not already registered?
