Support for Kendall Regional Medical Center’s Trauma Center was voiced during the first of four state workshops to support access for the emergency medical facilities in Doral Feb. 20.
After a legal challenge, the Department is now working on a new rule to establish where and how many trauma centers are needed.
Dr. John Armstrong, Florida Surgeon General, said that involved hospitals should regain their “focus on saving lives and restoring health to those injured.
“ Dr. Armstrong has encouraged the trauma center community to come together to provide the best possible trauma care to patients in need, a mission underscored by commentaries of medical staffs at the Doral session.
Three more workshops are scheduled in March in Okaloosa, Collier and Highlands Counties to continue discussions Nearly 25 speakers at the Doral workshop supported KRMC’s Center after voicing concerns and opinions on how to improve and build on the state’s current trauma system.
The need for trauma center expansion was voiced by Dr. Mark G. McKenney, Medical Director at KRMC’s South Florida Trauma Center, noting that the role of such centers to provide quality care quickly.
“Regardless of the type of traumatic injury, research shows that survival chances increase by 25 percent when trauma patients are treated in trauma centers,” he said.
“Yet only two in five trauma patients are treated at a Florida trauma center.
“As health care providers, we must be committed to doing all we can to ensure trauma patients have the best chance at survival.”
Joseph Kalinowski described his wife’s experience at Kendall Regional after a serious boating accident, commenting that the Center “had only been opened for a month, so that’s why I didn’t hear about the trauma center there, but thank God they were there for I think it saved her life,”
Scott A. Cihak, KRMC Chief Executive Officer, pointed to the KRMC track record of success, noting that “in the 15 months our center has been up and running, we have seen more than 2,550 trauma patients come through our doors.
“We have made a difference in the lives of our patients, their families and the community,” he stated.
