County Trauma Network May Get Help From State

The California Legislature is considering a proposal to provide $9.9 million to help bail out the beleaguered Los Angeles County trauma center network, Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles) said Friday.

The proposed block grant would allow the county to decide how to allocate the money among the 20 designated trauma center hospitals to help defray the costs of treating indigent patients.

Roos’ proposal comes as the scheduled June 15 withdrawal of Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood from the trauma center network approaches. The proposal is expected to be considered by the joint legislative Budget Conference Committee in Sacramento within the next several days.

In a related development, representatives of Daniel Freeman are to meet Monday afternoon with Robert Gates, director of the county’s Department of Health Services, to discuss possible ways to keep the Inglewood facility in the trauma program.

The meeting is “based upon some optimism that funding might become available,” said Virginia Price Hastings, director of the county’s trauma center program. “I think that Daniel Freeman really wants to remain in the program if there is any hope at all.”

Christie Ciraulo, a spokeswoman for Daniel Freeman, said the hospital still plans to stop trauma services on June 15, but added: “If our costs could be met we would reconsider our position.” The hospital and its physicians absorbed about $2 million in losses on the trauma center in 1986.

Daniel Freeman is the county’s third-busiest trauma center. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, the fourth-busiest center, quit the program in February, citing the financial burden imposed by treating large numbers of uninsured patients.