County enters into agreement for the East San Gabriel Valley

Staff Reports

Los Angeles County – The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the execution of a “Pre-Trauma Hospital Designation” agreement with $4.4 million in funding for specialized personnel and equipment upgrades to prepare Pomona Valley Hospital for trauma center designation, according to Mayor Michael D. Antonovich and Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.

“This agreement is the vital next step in our effort to provide a designated trauma center to serve the residents of the East San Gabriel Valley and others needing trauma services in the region,” said Antonovich.  “The funding will ensure that the hospital meets the County’s trauma center designation requirements and receives certification.”

“Whether a patient is being transported by helicopter or by ambulance, each second is critical to that patient’s survival,” Solis said.  “Today’s vote brings us one step closer to having Pomona Valley serve as our trauma center for eastern San Gabriel Valley.”

In 1987, citing significant financial losses, hospitals providing services to the region withdrew from the trauma system.  Since that time, patients who sustain significant trauma in the East San Gabriel Valley are transported to LAC+USC Medical Center or Huntington Memorial Medical Center by either ground or helicopter.  Every year, over 1,200 patients have to spend the critical moments after an injury in commute to a trauma center, which could be the difference between life and death.

While the Department of Health Services has tried to reestablish services over the past 28 years, the largest hospitals in the East San Gabriel Valley did not feel they had the available physician support or financial incentive to re-establish the trauma program.