Title
Public Health Department recommending adoption of Resolution establishing a new "Trauma Center Designation Fee" for local hospitals who meet certain criteria and are interested in becoming a designated trauma center in El Dorado County.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt Resolution 189-2007.
FUNDING: Fee paid by applicant hospital.
Body
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BUDGET SUMMARY: |
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Total Estimated Cost |
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$10,366 |
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Funding |
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Budgeted |
$10,366 |
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New Funding |
$ |
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Savings |
$ |
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Other |
$ |
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Total Funding Available |
$10,366 |
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Change To Net County Cost |
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$0 |
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost: Fee of $10,366 shall be paid by applicant hospital biannually to cover costs associated with review of applicant facility and operation prior to approval or recertification as a designated trauma center. There is no net County cost.
Background: When the County updated its Trauma Plan in 2005, Marshall Medical Center indicated interest in seeking designation as a Level III Trauma Center." This refers to a four-tier system of categorization established by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) where Level IV has the fewest requirements and Level I the highest. The County's EMS Agency has received a complete application for trauma center designation from Marshall. If the application is successful, the result would be that some trauma patients who currently must be transported to a trauma center in Sacramento or Roseville could be treated at Marshall Medical Center.
The next step in the application process is to convene a review team of 3-5 outside trauma experts to conduct an onsite evaluation and to make recommendations to the EMS Medical Director. Marshall will be responsible to pay for the costs of this review and related processing by the EMS Agency, and staff determined that to charge a fee for this services would be the most appropriate method of collection.
Several counties use trauma center fees to pay for additional staffing (i.e., a trauma coordinator) needed to oversee this program. In such cases, the fee is usually assessed annually to each trauma center. Because staff anticipate only one trauma center applicant for El Dorado County (Barton Memorial Hospital has expressed no interest in becoming a trauma center), we do not believe additional staffing will be required at this time. A review of trauma center fees charged statewide is shown in the table as Attachment A.
Any fee approved by the Board must correlate to direct/indirect costs incurred by the County. This should include any County staff time and all costs associated with the site review. A summary of these estimated costs is shown in the table as Attachment B:
Reason for Recommendation: Any applicant would be required to submit this fee prior to the site review being scheduled and conducted. However, EMS Agency also recommends that a site review be conducted biannually to insure the applicant hospital complies with all recognized standards for Level III trauma designation. This would require assessing the fee for each review. The County would contract with individuals on the review team and compensate them accordingly. Assuming the EMS Medical Director determines that Level III trauma designation is appropriate, the County will then create a contract with Marshall or other applicant hospital to provide these services. The contract will stipulate detailed requirements to be met by the hospital to maintain trauma center designation.
The Department recommends this fee be adopted immediately to expedite the processing of Marshalls application.
Action to be taken following Board approval: Chair to sign two (2) copies of attached Resolution; Board Clerk's Office to return one signed copy to Public Health. Department to distribute as appropriate.
Contact: Dan Buffalo
Concurrences: