title: Pro/con debate: do the benefits of regionalized critical care delivery outweigh the risks of interfacility patient transport?
abstract: You are providing input in planning for critical care services to a large regional health authority. You are considering concentrating some critical care services into high-volume regional centres of excellence, as has been done in other fields of medicine. In your region, this would require several centres with differing levels of expertise that are geographically separated. Given there are inherent risks and time delays associated with interfacility patient transport, you debate whether these potential risks outweigh the benefits of regional centres of excellence.
authors.affiliation: Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care and Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto Western Hospital, 399 Bathurst Street, 2 McLaughlin - 411K, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8, Canada. jeff.singh@uhn.on.ca
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Russell D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: MacDonald
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012040:Regional Health Planning; D018570:Risk Assessment
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