Murray Receives Award for Work to Ensure Americans Have Access to Lifesaving Care

(Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray was presented with the annual
“Congressional Leadership Award” from the American College of Emergency
Physicians (ACEP). This award is given to recognize efforts made on the behalf
of emergency and trauma medicine, an especially important issue to the
Northwest where Harborview Medical Center has the only level one trauma center
serving four states.

“I’m
deeply honored to receive this award,”
said Senator Murray. “Increasing the availability of emergency and
trauma care has been a priority of mine and I will continue to ensure that care
centers and hospitals have the resources they need to effectively take care of
patients in emergency situations, because trauma can happen to anyone, at
anytime, and centers need to be available to provide immediate care.”

Senator
Murray successfully fought to include her legislation
to help trauma care centers keep their doors open as part of the Affordable
Care Act. Language included by Senator Murray provides assistance to
economically distressed trauma centers by reauthorizing federal funding for
centers facing the highest uncompensated costs, emergency funding to help
prevent trauma center closures or downgrades, and addresses lack of access in
underserved regions.

The
crisis in trauma care funding is a particularly urgent problem in the Northwest
where Harborview Medical Center has the only level one trauma center serving
four states – Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. Harborview has the
highest occupancy rate of any hospital in the region, logs over 75,000
emergency department visits each year, and performs over $110 million in
charity care each year– which represents 21% of their total expenditures.