SB 746 - Trauma Care Summary

• Transfers primary responsibility for designating trauma centers from a complex verification process to the Department of Health, which must designate centers based on national accreditation body verification rather than state review procedures.

• Eliminates the 19 trauma service areas and provisional trauma center designations, replacing them with a streamlined system where hospitals submit completed applications with national accreditation certificates for immediate designation.

• Requires the Department to coordinate development of a statewide trauma system plan updated by December 31 of every odd-numbered year and limits each county to one trauma agency.

• Restricts hospitals from withholding information provided to national trauma center accreditation bodies from the Department, with potential loss of trauma center designation as a penalty for non-compliance.

• Removes provisions allowing out-of-state experts to conduct site visits with immunity and eliminates immunity for out-of-state experts, while expanding public records exemptions to include emergency medical service transport and treatment records of trauma alert victims.