Cleveland-based University Hospitals will open the city's second Level 1 trauma center at its Case Medical Center on Dec. 1, despite opposition from regional competitors, according to Cleveland.com.
The other Level 1 trauma center in Cleveland is at The MetroHealth System.
Although University Hospitals has been planning the trauma center for months, the decision has been met with disagreement. Cleveland-based MetroHealth and the Northern Ohio Trauma System — or NOTS, which includes other trauma centers in the area outside the UH system — believe UH's new center is unnecessary. NOTS officials say high-level trauma centers require a large amount of patients, and doling the patients between two centers will cause more deaths.
University Hospitals has been invited to join the NOTS system on multiple occasions, but has declined.
Officials from both systems openly argued about the issue during a recent city council hearing, causing Mayor Frank Jackson to privately meet with the systems' executives.
"His concern was that the tone of [the city council hearing] was not what any of us hoped for," said Al Connors, MD, chief clinical officer at MetroHealth. "I think all of the parties quickly agreed with the mayor that we need to figure this out and work together." After multiple meetings with the mayor, Dr. Connors said he believes the systems will "be able to get to a good place."
However, the waters may still be testy. When asked about their refusal to join NOTS, University Hospitals did not give many details aside from concerns about NOTS' bylaws.