By Carolyne Park
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Progress on getting the statewide trauma system up and running won’t be hindered by the latest state budget cuts, Arkansas Department of Health officials said Thursday.
Gov. Mike Beebe announced a $106 million, or 2.4 percent, across-the-board state budget cut Monday. That will mean about $2.1 million in cuts for the Health Department, which is in charge of running the trauma system.
The cut will take about $473,000 from the trauma system budget, but it won’t immediately be felt, because as much as $4 million to $6 million of its first-year budget is expected to be unspent by the close of the fiscal year June 30, said Health Department Director Paul Halverson.
“This is not going to be slowing down the work of the trauma system in Arkansas,” Halverson told members of the state’s Trauma Advisory Council.
Council Chairman Dr. James Graham, chief of emergency medicine at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, said the cuts mean tough decisions are being made across state government.
“It’s a difficult time for everyone,” Graham said. “But the key elements of the [trauma] system are going to be able to move forward.” When legislators approved the system last year, they gave the Health Department authority to roll over any unused money from one fiscal year to the next. It was a provision meant to allow some flexibility as the new system gets under way because it’s hard to predict how long different elements will take, Halverson said.
“Some things you can’t do as fast as you would like to,” he said.
Signed into law by Beebe on March 13, the trauma system is a network that connects hospitals, ambulance services and other emergency responders statewide. It’s expected to take at least two years to be fully operational and is designed to get people as quickly as possible to the facility best able to treat their specific injuries after a car wreck, fall, shooting or other traumatic injury.
For example, it would ensure that a burn victim is quickly routed to a burn unit. The money to pay for the system comes from an increase in cigarette and tobacco taxes that took effect in March.
At first, the system was set to get $20 million the first year, plus a one-time $5 million payment to emergency medical services for training and equipment, including $1 million for defibrillators for schools.
After Beebe announced the first round of $100 million in budget cuts in October, the system lost the $5 million onetime payment and $261,000 more for unfilled staff positions.
To roll over the unused money to the next fiscal year, the Health Department will have to ask for legislators’ approval, but Halverson said he didn’t anticipate opposition.
“I’m going to be ferocious in guarding the carry-forward, because we just don’t know what next year will bring,” he said.
Meanwhile, the department is moving forward with filling staff positions for the trauma system. Three new hires started this week to help develop and manage the trauma registry, which will track patients from the time of injury through rehabilitation.
Bill Temple, the department’s branch chief for injury prevention and control, said he’s considering applications for a new trauma section chief and three registered nurses. He said 221 people applied for an administrative assistant position.
“That’s a positive start,” Temple said. “We just hope that we got some good applications.” Dr. Todd Maxson, trauma medical director at Children’s Hospital and the Health Department’s trauma medical consultant, has worked with trauma systems in other states and said they take time to establish.
“This state is moving at lightning speed,” Maxson said.
Copyright 2010 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.