7/14: Trauma Care Coalition Protests U of C Luxury Beds

Trauma Center Activists Protest University of Chicago $120M Application for More Hospital Beds
Activists say U of C should open trauma center not luxury beds

	WHO: Trauma Center Coalition, which includes Mothers, Nurses, Doctors, Pastors, Students and Community neighboring Univ. of
	      Chicago

	WHAT: Press Conference before State Health Facility Board Hearing on University Application for more Hospital beds

	WHERE / WHEN: July 14 at 8:45am at Bolingbrook Golf Club 2001 Rodeo Drive Bolingbrook, Illinois

	VISUAL: Doctors, Pastors, Students and Community to speak at hearing and deliver ‘Certificate of Greed’ to University of
		Chicago Hospital Head Dean Polonsky

Chicago, IL - The Trauma Center Coalition will protest the University of Chicago’s recent application to open more hospitals beds instead of a trauma center. There will be a press conference at 8:45am just before a hearing on the University’s application at the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board on Monday July 14 at Bolingbrook Golf Club 2001 Rodeo Drive Bolingbrook, Illinois. The Coalition will give public comment at the Board hearing.

“Dean Plonsky, head of the University Hospital is basically saying that he should be allowed to spend over $120M to open up luxury beds in his new hospital with private bathrooms and showers in every room while at the same time he tells us that he has no money for a trauma center” says Veronica Morris-Moore, a leader of the Trauma Care Coalition.

Emilio Compay Del Junco, a student at the University of Chicago noted that: “Polonsky is applying for larger room sizes and more single-occupancy medical surgical rooms which are low on the list of existing community demands for healthcare, especially when compared with the current lack of trauma care in the University of Chicago Hospital’s core service area.”

Polonsky is applying to the  Health Facilities and Services Review Board for what is called a certificate of need. These certificates are required to open up new hospital beds and they exist to stop rising healthcare costs and to prevent duplication of services. The staff of the Health Facilities and Services Review Board is recommending that the University application be denied because they are calling for single occupancy rooms and that are too large and because they have not demonstrated the need for these beds.

Instead of a certificate of need, activists plan to deliver a ‘certificate of greed’ to Dean Polonksy on Monday at the Board meeting. The estimated cost for operating an adult level I trauma center is $25 million per year. The proposed transfer of beds is estimated at $123 million. The cost for the proposed movement of medical surgical beds could finance a trauma center for nearly five years.

The community’s demand for trauma care was sparked by the death of Damian Turner. The call for trauma care is also supported by new research by Dr. Marie Crandall of Northwestern Hospital on "Trauma Deserts" which shows that longer travel times to a trauma center increase your likelihood of dying.

** Background / Selected Coverage of trauma care campaign **

5/19 Sun-Times: Campus police drag off protesters at U. of C. construction site
http://sun-tim.es/1kiyTer

5/20 Huff Post Chicago: Why This Hospital Turned An 18-Year-Old Away After He Was Shot
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/20/university-of-chicago-obama-library_n_5359444.html

5/20 Chicago Tribune: Demonstrators again press for U of C trauma center
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-university-of-chicago-trauma-center-20140520,0,5200118.story

5/21 CNN: Chicago needs help, not Obama library
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/21/opinion/granderson-chicago-obama-library/?c&page=1

5/22 ABC 7 Chicago -- UChicago Students to Deliver Letter to Obama Demanding Trauma Center
http://abc7chicago.com/news/uchicago-students-to-deliver-letter-to-obama-demanding-trauma-center-/73381

5/22 Progress IL: U Of C Physicians, Med Students Join Push For A South Side Trauma Center (VIDEO)
http://bit.ly/1phmjN9

5/22 Chicago Tribune: Doctors add voices to demand for U of C trauma center http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-doctors-add-voices-to-demand-for-u-of-c-trauma-center-20140522,0,5817731.story

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