The state Legislature provided $23 million for Georgia’s trauma care hospitals, less than half the money they received last year. That worries advocates who fear the cut will endanger service at the 15 trauma hospitals.“It’s not enough to sustain the system, let alone build it,” said Art Kellermann, associate dean for health policy at Emory School of Medicine.
Wide swaths of the state, especially in rural North and South Georgia, are far away from the expert care of a designated trauma center.
More than 1 million Georgians live more than 50 miles from a trauma center, which offers more specialized services than a regular emergency room. That puts these Georgians beyond the “golden hour” when emergency caregivers have the greatest chance to save someone’s life.
State researchers say 700 Georgians die annually because of Georgia’s spotty trauma coverage.
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Instead of the state funded this, it should be voluntary contributions. The people that feel that these centers are inadequately funded should open their own wallets, not force others to do so.
A professor from Emory seemed very concern. He should convince his school, with its $5.4 billion endowment, to help fund these centers. Voluntary contributions are the moral approach; not forced funding through our taxes.
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