Health officials: More trauma centers needed

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Health officials developing a statewide trauma system say Indiana needs more trauma centers.

The State Department of Health says Commissioner Gregory Larkin and the agency's trauma prevention experts finished a statewide listening tour with the realization they face much work in creating a statewide trauma system as 41 other states have.

The agency says only 58 percent of Indiana residents live within 45 minutes of one of Indiana's eight trauma centers certified by the American College of Surgeons. Three are in Indianapolis, with two each in Fort Wayne and Evansville and one in South Bend.

Traumatic injuries are the top killer of Hoosiers under age 45. Injuries hospitalize more than 32,000 people each year due to injuries. About 3,700 injuries resulted in death in 2009, the most recent data available.