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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THAT THE STATE CONVENE A PANEL TO CREATE A PLAN FOR A LEVEL II TRAUMA CENTER IN THE SOUTHLAND
WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) was given the authority to designate and regulate all trauma centers through the Illinois Emergency Medical Services Act of 1980 (210 ILCS 50). Subsequently, through the Illinois Trauma Center Code (210 ILCS 50/3.90) the Department was given further authority by permitting any hospital that met the Department's trauma center standards to be so designated; and
WHEREAS, despite having one of the oldest statewide trauma systems in the country, Illinois still has several relative trauma deserts across the state. In urban settings such a Chicago's Southside, it has been argued that proximity to a trauma center in excess of 5 miles constitutes a trauma desert; and
WHEREAS, a trauma center designation means a hospital as a whole has the resources and staffing needed to provide comprehensive, specialized care for patients who suffer a traumatic injury from such causes as motor vehicle crashes, gun-shot wounds, burns and falls. The state requires Level 1 trauma care providers to have critical resources and specialists available 24/7. Emergency departments are the primary entry point for trauma patients, who must be stabilized in specialized trauma bays before being moved to other areas of a hospital for additional medical care. A Level II trauma center is very similar with the difference being the availability of subspecialists (in-house 24-hour vs. within 30 or 60 minutes) and the sophistication of diagnostic and monitoring equipment; and
WHEREAS, Southside and Westside Chicago communities tend to have higher numbers of firearm-related violence necessitating trauma services to treat penetrating injuries such as gun-shot wounds (GSW) and stab wounds; and
WHEREAS, Saint James Hospital in Olympia Fields, which serves the Southland, closed its Level 1 Trauma Center on July 1, 2008, aft...
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