Threat to USF Health-HCA partnership fades

Posted Oct 16, 2011 by Lindsay Peterson

Updated Oct 16, 2011 at 09:59 AM

It looked for a while like a local hospital battle would derail a USF Health and HCA hospital partnership, one of USF’s efforts to keep its medical practice alive in a rocky health care environment.

But the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports today that Blake Hospital, in Bradenton, will likely be allowed to open a new trauma center.

Last year, USF announced plans to team up with HCA to help the company in five new trauma centers across the state, including at Blake. USF would help recruit the centers’ doctors and analyze data on trauma care outcomes.

But competing hospitals, including Tampa General, challenged the plan, saying that the state’s method of approving new trauma centers was old and outdated.

A judge ruled in their favor, but the state health department said it would appeal the ruling. And it appears to be headed toward letting Blake’s application go through at the end of this month.