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COUNTY GETS FIRST TRAUMA CENTER
S.J. GENERAL DESIGNATION COMES AFTER 10-YEAR EFFORT
By Zachary K. Johnson
July 24, 2013
Record Staff Writer
STOCKTON - Officials on Tuesday named San Joaquin General Hospital as the county's first designated trauma
center, filling an oft-mentioned hole in the local health care system.
As part of a recently adopted trauma plan for the county, San Joaquin General will be the first choice to take most
patients in the county suffering from traumatic injuries.
From industrial accidents to car wrecks to gunshot wounds, traumatic injuries are the most common cause of
death for people younger than 45 in the county, and officials said having a designated trauma center in place can
bring trauma patients specialized treatment more quickly, increasing their chances for survival.
"The folks that live here deserve to have the best medical care we can give them, and this is definitely a step in
that direction," Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller said before the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to name San
Joaquin General as the county's designated trauma center.
The designation is the culmination of a decade-long process, county Health Services Director Ken Cohen said.
"For a county of our size, ... not having a trauma center really is a public health issue."
Over that past decade, county officials looking to make changes when San Joaquin General became faced with
mounting financial challenges opted not to pursue the trauma-center status at San Joaquin General because of
issues that included the cost of making changes to meeting the requirements of the designation.
But that position changed.
Current startup costs for the trauma center were about $2 million for equipment, new staff and training. San
Joaquin General Chief Executive Officer David Culberson said he expected the hospital would make money billing
insurers for the high level of care provided by the trauma center. "The bottom line, we believe - yes, this will help
the hospital," he said.
The hospital can also now use the trauma designation when marketing itself. With the advent of changes from
national health care reform, hospital officials are expecting an unknown number of people acquiring health
insurance who have not had coverage in the past will be choosing health care providers.
The hospital already added staff and has been handling a larger number of trauma patients in the county because
it could handle them, Culberson said. On average, the hospital has received 51 patients a month since January.
When the hospital becomes the official trauma center, it will be taking an estimated 115 patients a month.
Under the current system, ambulances tend to take patients to the closest hospital, said Richard Buys, medical
director of the county Emergency Medical Services agency. "You may hit the facility on a good day," he said, or
the traumatic injury could happen when a needed surgeon is not available.
As a designated trauma center, San Joaquin General created trauma-response teams with a surgeon who will be
available on 15 minutes' notice, according to EMS. But it's not just the one-hospital designation that is changing
the system; it's the entire plan, Buys said.
EMS drafted the trauma system plan that was approved by the board last year. When the agency put out the call
for local hospitals to become the designated center in the plan, only San Joaquin General submitted a proposal.
San Joaquin General is the county public hospital. The hospital and agency report to the Board of Supervisors.
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County gets first trauma center | Recordnet.com
Under the plan, patients in some parts of southern San Joaquin County will be taken over the county line to closer
trauma centers in Modesto. And certain burn and spinal injuries will still head out of the county. One of the places
these patients could go is the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento, which will also handle
pediatric trauma patients from San Joaquin County.
Hospitals that are designated trauma centers range from Level IV to Level I. San Joaquin General will start as a
Level III trauma center and work toward a 2017 goal of becoming a Level II center. That would require having a
neurosurgeon available 24 hours a day and adding on-site MRI capability, according to the county. Level I centers
are similar to Level II centers but are teaching and research facilities.
Under the agreement, San Joaquin General has until Sept. 1 to start providing services as the trauma center, but it
is expected to be fully operational less than two weeks from now, on Aug. 1.
"This is an exciting development for San Joaquin County," board Chairman Ken Vogel said.
Contact reporter Zachary K. Johnson at (209) 546-8258 or [email protected]. Visit his blog at
recordnet.com/johnsonblog.
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