Why are there fewer burn beds?
David Greenhalgh, chief of burn surgery at UC Davis Medical Center and a member of the ABA/ACS verification team, listed several reasons why the number of burn beds has declined over the years. For starters, there are fewer burns, because safety and prevention messages are getting through. Second, the trend throughout the country is for burn units to be larger, with more specific expertise available around the clock. “It’s not only having doctors and the beds, but you need the whole team, nutrition and respiratory therapists,” Greenhalgh says. “It’s a concern. Burn centers need to take care of all levels of burns and handle all levels of trauma and critical care that goes along with them.” Forbes says that Grossman’s policy is to take all types of burn patients, regardless of the extent of their burns. “We’re plastic surgery based. That’s a distinction from other burn units in the country. Theirs are general surgery based or resident run. We take a longer-term view of patients care. We
