Nonetheless, his main opponent, Attorney General Bill McCollum, has hammered him on the issue. Rick Scott ran the company at the time, but was never personally implicated. The controversy has found its way back into the headlines as a major issue in the campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Florida. In the end, HCA was forced to pay back $1.7 billion. In 2000, the company admitted to submitting inflated bills to Medicare, which it used to foot its marketing and advertising costs and to dish out kickbacks to physicians for patient referrals. “Now that we see this large number of new applications, we’re kind of dumbfounded, and we’re concerned a little bit about the viability” of the existing trauma centers in those areas, said Tony Carvalho of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, whose membership includes several state trauma centers.Ĭomplicating matters is HCA’s track record. Florida’s 22 centers collectively lose about $100 million a year. Trauma centers tend to bleed millions of dollars a year in unpaid bills in many cases, they need government help to survive. Why, they wonder, is a for-profit company getting so deeply involved in an endeavor so historically unprofitable?Īfter all, many trauma patients, particularly victims of violent crime, are uninsured or have inadequate insurance. This year, five hospitals operated by the Nashville, Tenn.-based company have sought state health officials’ approval to open trauma centers. ![]() Plopping trauma centers in out-of-the-way places like Orange Park seems to be HCA’s game plan in Florida. Yet here, where the allure is an escape from the grim realities of the inner city, the largest hospital operator in the country wants to open a trauma center. The suburban county produced 290 trauma patients in 2008 – about one-sixth the number of cases in Duval County, its gritty neighbor to the north. And it doesn’t stop there.Horrific car crashes, stabbings and gushing gunshot wounds are relatively few in Clay County. We have a trauma surgeon at the patient’s side within minutes of them arriving at the ER, ready to give a quick overview of their injuries and the steps that need to be taken to care for them. We offer education on:īixler’s Trauma Center is staffed with doctors certified in trauma care, ready to provide medical attention to patients who are suffering from traumatic injuries. Community Educationĭo you know the dangers of trauma-related accidents or how to perform CPR? Our team is dedicated to providing the community with education on what to do in a trauma emergency. With all our emergency room physician’s board certified in emergency medicine and trauma, we are always ready when every second matters. Credentialed as a Level II Trauma Center Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare serves 5 of the 6 counties in the state of Florida with the highest mortality rate by providing lifesaving trauma services.īecause of the isolated areas in which injury occurs, there are many potential causes for delay that contribute to increased rates of morbidity and mortality, the Level II trauma center is often the highest-level hospital in rural areas. Traumatic injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 45 and the number one cause of disability for all age groups. As the only trauma center in the region, we are ready to provide comprehensive, definite care in minutes. ![]() In a trauma emergency, every second counts.
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