With Abington Memorial Hospital poised to
relinquish its designation as a trauma center in less than a month,
Rep. Ellen M. Bard (R-153) is calling upon state leaders to react to
this crisis situation in Montgomery County.
“This is not the
Quecreek mine, but our health care system, that is caving in. At
Abington Memorial Hospital, we need to save at least 20 out of 20
surgeons – the present count who have given notice that they won’t
be able to provide services after the end of the year,” Bard said.
“We need to save all 20 in order to protect the services our
residents depend upon. Without a trauma center in our area, trauma
patients will need to be transported by helicopter or ambulance to
centers in Philadelphia or Allentown, thereby costing precious time
and putting patients at risk.”
Abington Hospital
officials have notified the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the
Trauma Systems Foundation that it will voluntarily relinquish its
status as a trauma center on Dec. 31 because it will not be able to
maintain the required staffing levels. By law, trauma
centers must have a minimum number of doctors on staff and on call at
all times.
The announcement
comes on the heels of several orthopedic surgeons from Orthopedic
Specialty Center stating that they will discontinue elective surgery
Dec. 21 and providing trauma coverage and emergency care effective
Dec. 31 due to a lack of medical malpractice insurance. In addition,
physicians with Surgical Care Specialists Inc., general surgeons who
also deliver care at Abington’s emergency room, are voluntarily
inactivating their licenses effective year’s end.
“We’ve been
saying for more than a year now that this crisis is immediate,” Bard
said of the lack of available and affordable medical liability
insurance, low reimbursements and extensive litigation. “Despite
reforms we have made at the state level, Pennsylvania’s physicians,
especially surgeons, aren’t seeing the immediate relief they need to
stay in business and continue medical careers. Orthopedic and
emergency surgeons are the backbone of any trauma center. Without
them, our hospital’s critical care services cannot function.”
Bard is calling the
attention of Gov. Mark Schweiker and Gov.-elect Ed Rendell to this
urgent matter.
“It is imperative
that Gov. Schweiker and Gov.-elect Rendell realize the urgency of this
crisis and sit down and talk with the surgeons and the hospital’s
administration in order to identify measures that can be taken to
alleviate this situation,” she said.
One option, available
to the governor, is to call a special session of the General Assembly.
The legislature is currently scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 7.
“Immediately, at
the beginning of the new session, I will be introducing legislation to
lower the total insurance levels for physicians, provide financial
relief for surcharges from the catastrophic loss fund (MCARE) and
suspend the requirement for surcharge payments as a condition of
licensure,” Bard said.
She also plans to
reintroduce legislation she introduced in the past session to propose
special medical liability courts and to provide for reimbursements for
multiple procedures.