An Alabama hospital unveiled Friday a new $20 million trauma center that is expected to be operational before mid-January and will be immediately thrust into action during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
The “Fanny Meisler Trauma Center” at University Hospital in Mobile, is an expansion that is “three times bigger” than the existing trauma center operated by USA Health, according to USA Health CEO Owen Bailey. Once operational, the trauma center will have 38 examination rooms and three trauma bays.
It is only one of three trauma centers in Alabama classified as a “Level 1” facility, and the only one in coastal Alabama. The center, like similar facilities in Birmingham and Huntsville, provides 24-hour and total care for every aspect of injury, and is a crucial resource for referrals and public education.
“We would like this open today,” Bailey said, following a ribbon cutting ceremony in which hospital physicians watched atop awnings while wearing face coverings and standing six feet apart. “We are moving as quickly as we can. It will give us some immediate capacity and free up space in the existing hospital.”
He added, “It is needed now more than ever. No question.”
The raging pandemic has consumed University Hospital’s ICU beds and rooms, much like other hospitals throughout Alabama. Statewide, just 121 out of 1,635 designated ICU beds were empty as of Thursday morning. In Mobile, only 11 beds were available.
The trauma center’s opening comes as the state added more than 3,800 new coronavirus cases on Friday with 2,170 hospitalizations, which is a record high since the pandemic began in March.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who repeatedly called the trauma center’s addition as a boon for economic development, called the statewide hospitalization surge a “troubling situation.” But the governor stopped short of saying whether she would sign off on additional public health restrictions that could put additional regulations on businesses. Alabama, however, maintains a statewide mask mandate that has been in place since mid-July.
“I hope we can handle what we got the way we are doing it,” Ivey said. “We’re staying in close contact with (Alabama State Public Health Officer) Dr. (Scott) Harris and we’ll make those judgements. We just need to do what we needs to be done to help our people.”
The coronavirus pandemic loomed large over the ceremony. Bailey publicly thanked the physicians who are grappling with the nation’s biggest health crisis in a century, saying that the doctors and nurses “have served with dignity and devotion.”
“Now we’re in the delivery of the vaccine phase and I appreciate our team and everything they are doing.”
USA Health, Bailey said, is expected to receive its first doses of vaccine for health care workers sometime early next week.
“It’s giving a lot of folks a lot of hope that we’ve reached this point,” Bailey said.
The trauma center’s opening will wrap up a two-year project that began in December 2018, when Ivey participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the 27,000-square-foot facility. The state appropriated $4 million through and economic development bond issue to spearhead business attraction and retention for Alabama’s port city.
“The companies that will expand in the future are dependent on having a first-class Level 1 trauma center,” said Ivey. “Whether it’s the chemical companies on Route 43, steel mills or our growing aerospace cluster, this facility is essential to Mobile’s future growth potential.”
Ivey also credited 93-year-old philanthropist Bert Meisler, who dedicated $5 million toward the project that is named after his late wife, Fanny.
Meisler credited the doctors and nurses for making the trauma center a reality.
“Bricks and mortar do not make a trauma center,” he said. “It’s management. It’s doctors. It’s nurses. It’s staff that has earned us national recognition as a Level 1 trauma center. I salute you.”