Published: June 09, 2007 09:48 pm      

Cabell not accepting head trauma patients

Move is temporary

HUNTINGTON — One of the two Huntington hospitals that provide trauma care for Tri-State residents has temporarily quit accepting head trauma patients.

For the time being, all such patients are being routed to St. Mary’s Medical Center.

The situation came about after a group of neurosurgeons opted to not renew its practicing privileges with Cabell Huntington.

In a prepared statement, Tri-State Neurosciences Inc. of Huntington said its trauma services agreement with the two hospitals expired May 31 and that it had decided to renew with St. Mary’s, but not with Cabell Huntington.

“To best serve our community, we will continue to provide state-of-the-art full neurosurgical services with 24/7 coverage at St. Mary’s Medical Center,” the statement reads. “There will be no lapse of care to the community or our patients.”

Tri-State Neurosciences also said it would continue to handle pediatric patients that cannot be treated at either St. Mary’s or Cabell Huntington “for the immediate future.”

Kathy Cosco, media and community relations manager for Cabell Huntington, said the situation could turn out to be short-lived. Marshall University has recruited a neurosurgeon who will have practicing privileges at Cabell Huntington and who is expected to begin work within the next few days, she said.

Cabell Huntington also continues to provide other types of trauma care, Cosco said.

Cabell Huntington and St. Mary’s are the only two licensed trauma centers in the Tri-State. The two hospitals receive trauma patients, such as traffic accident and violent-crime victims, on a rotating basis. Such patients are taken to St. Mary’s on even-numbered days and to Cabell Huntington on odd-numbered ones.

The odd-even system will remain in place but, under the current conditions, head trauma patients will come to St. Mary’s regardless of what the calendar says, said Dan Londeree, St. Mary’s media relations manager.

Londeree said he did not expect the additional influx of head trauma patients to cause problems for the hospital.

“Just looking at the numbers, we’re prepared to handle the additional cases that are going to be coming our way,” he said. “We don’t see that it’s going to pose any significant issues for us.”

Londeree also said it was his understanding that head trauma patients who are already at Cabell Huntington would remain there.

Last year, St. Mary’s handled 85 cases of severe head trauma, Londeree said. The hospital is on pace to exceed that number in 2007, with 54 cases as of the end of last month.

All-terrain vehicle accidents are the major reason why the number of head injuries continues to climb, Londeree said.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is educate people about ATV safety,” he said.