Study Documents Improved Trauma Care at L.A. County Hospital

An increase in the number of trauma patients treated at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center translated to improved outcomes, according to a study in the journal American Surgeon, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Researchers from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA compared trauma outcomes at the hospital before and after King-Harbor's trauma center closed. 

After adjusting for an increase in severely injured patients, researchers found that the probability of death for trauma patients at UCLA-Harbor dropped by 31% after King-Harbor closed its trauma center.  Researchers attribute the improved outcomes to the increase in trauma patients. 

Context

Harbor-UCLA was one of three hospitals that picked up an influx of patients after Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital closed its trauma center three years ago (Lin, Los Angeles Times, 10/23).  King-Harbor terminated inpatient services last year after federal investigators found that the facility was not meeting minimum patient care standards (California Healthline, 9/10).

Harbor-UCLA is about 10 miles away from the King-Harbor campus.

County Response

Carol Meyer -- interim chief network officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, which operates Harbor-UCLA -- said that other studies have supported the idea that trauma care benefits from an increase in patients.

Meyer said the county supports re-opening a hospital and emergency department at King-Harbor but said that a decision on re-opening a trauma center at the hospital should not be made until inpatient services resume (Los Angeles Times, 10/23).