Trauma Center Will Close Its Doors Tonight : Care: The closure is expected to place a burden on the county’s remaining centers, which are girding for extra patients.

After years of battling the skyrocketing costs of treating indigent patients and maintaining malpractice insurance, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital will close its trauma center at midnight tonight.

“This is going to put a strain on the other hospitals, much like the domino effect,” said Dr. John G. West, a surgeon at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange who is an expert on trauma care. “When one trauma center closes, the rest are going to have to work harder and take care of more patients.”

The closure promises to have a profound effect on the three remaining trauma centers in Orange County: UCI Medical Center in Orange, Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, and Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

Fountain Valley’s trauma center had treated up to 1,000 seriously injured patients a year from an area extending from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and to Santa Ana and Anaheim. The hospital announced in August that it would close its trauma center in 120 days but would continue to have emergency room services.

Trauma centers have surgeons and trauma teams on duty 24 hours a day; hospital emergency rooms have surgeons on call.

West blames the county for not helping Fountain Valley pay for the brunt of caring for indigent patients.

“The county has continuously washed its hands of its responsibility to care for such patients. They are making hospitals and doctors take the burden of the costs,” West said.

The Fountain Valley hospital, like the other two trauma centers that have closed in Orange County, has cited losses of up to $1 million per year from treating uninsured patients and the costs of insurance coverage and staffing. The other two trauma centers that closed were Anaheim Memorial Hospital and St. Jude.

The county will monitor the effect of the closing, said Herbert Rosenzweig, director of the county’s medical services. Ambulances will begin diverting patients to other trauma centers at midnight.

“We’ve been anticipating this for quite a while now,” Rosenzweig said. “We’ve discussed this situation with the other hospitals, so it looks like everyone is well aware.”

UCI Medical Center spokeswoman Fran Tardiff said the hospital was prepared to receive more patients than usual.

Orange County Trauma Network The Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center is closing its trauma center, leaving only 3 in the county. UCI Medical Center, Orange 101 The City Drive Western Medical Center, Santa Ana, 1001 N. Tustin Ave. Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Fountain Valley, 17100 Euclid St. Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, Mission Viejo, 27700 Medical Center Rd.