A plan by the Health Care District of Palm Beach County to solve a shortage of neurosurgeons willing to handle emergencies could cost $1.1 million a year. Under the arrangement, the county’s hospitals would pay a total of $1 million annually. The health-care district would kick in $145,000. That would be enough to pay an on-call neurosurgeon $2,250 a day, plus $822 a day for the doctor’s medical malpractice insurance, to handle emergencies related to stroke, aneurysms and other brain and spinal injuries. Dr. Michael Collins, ER director at Jupiter Medical Center, applauds the district for coming up with a plan after years of discussion. It’s good to see all the talking coming to fruition,” he said. “We’ll just have to throw this in the swimming pool and see if it floats.” Because several county hospitals are hurting fiscally this year, it’s unclear whether they will ante up a combined $1 million. HCA Inc., which owns three Palm Beach County hospitals, said it wanted to “learn further details” but was making no commitments. Mitch Feldman, CEO at West Boca Medical Center, said he would have preferred that the health-care district’s portion of funding would be higher than $145,000. “It seems the health-care district has cut its commitment for funding rather than expand it to assure access,” he said. The taxpayer-financed health-care district spends $20 million a year to run a countywide trauma system that keeps surgeons and other specialists on 24-hour call at Delray Medical Center and St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. But that’s for trauma injuries, and at just two hospitals. Because most county hospitals don’t have around-the-clock neurosurgery services, ER patients have a better chance of finding a neurosurgeon to treat a gunshot to the head than to treat a stroke. As a result, patients with potentially fatal brain or spinal problems often face delays in treatment, and some are transferred to hospitals in other counties.
Excerpt taken from a recent Sun Sentinel article.
The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters. The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.
