Document text
--> --> Hospitals in Medford hit with trauma downgrade MEDFORD (AP) - State regulators recently allowed two Southern Oregon hospitals to scale back their level of trauma care in response to concerns about doctor shortages and pay scale. Rogue Valley Medical Center and Providence Medford Medical Center received approval in April to scale back their trauma rating. That means seriously injured patients in the region will have to travel as far as Bend or Portland to receive critical care, making treatment more expensive and inconvenient for families. In major trauma cases, emergency room doctors rely on on-call doctors to help treat the patients and perform lifesaving surgeries. In Oregon, hospitals are rated from one to four for major trauma cases based on their equipment and staffing. Accident victims are transported to the nearest hospital that can provide the level of care they need. Hospitals may transfer patients to a higher level of care, but transfers between hospitals at the same level are prohibited. Medford's two hospitals have stepped down to level three care, the same category as most of the hospitals in the region. That means they can no longer accept transfer patients from other level three hospitals, such as Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass and Merle West Medical Center in Klamath Falls. Those patients now have to go to one of Oregon's three remaining level two or one hospitals: McKenzie Willamette or Sacred Heart in Eugene, St. Charles in Bend or OHSU Hospital and Legacy Emanuel, both in Portland. The Medford hospitals asked state regulators to downgrade their trauma status after administrators and surgeons could not agree on compensation. Doctors at Medford's two hospitals receive $600 per day, while hospitals in Eugene pay $900 and Bend pays $1,200. "Under the state trauma system, surgeons need to be immediately available to the operating room, which means they can't schedule elective surgeries," said Dr. Elliott Meyerding, director of trauma at Providence Medford and RVMC. Also, doctors, hospital administrators and state regulators all agree that Jackson County has not recruited enough new surgeons to maintain level two trauma status. "What's being played out in Medford is being played out in other hospitals," said Dr. Jon Gell, medical staff director at both hospitals. "It's getting harder for emergency room doctors to find help." Gell said Medford hospitals had at least 12 orthopedists several years ago, but now have just six. There are 12 local surgeons, meaning one must be on trauma call every 12 days along with an emergency-room backup-call day every sixth day. The Medford hospitals have asked state regulators for a variance to allow them to accept level three transfers. Officials could decide within several weeks to allow outlying hospitals to transfer patients to Providence and RVMC. "The bottom line is both surgeons and hospitals want a solution to this problem," said Meyerding. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing