(a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury, the Trauma Care Fund, which, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, is hereby continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years to the authority for the purposes specified in subdivision (c). (b) The fund shall contain any moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to appropriation by the Legislature or from any other source, as well as, notwithstanding Section 16305.7 of the Government Code, any interest and dividends earned on moneys in the fund. (c) Moneys in the fund shall be expended by the authority to provide for allocations to local EMS agencies, for distribution to local EMS agency-designated trauma centers provided for by this chapter. (d) Within 30 days of the effective date of the enactment of an appropriation for purposes of implementing this chapter, the authority shall request all local EMS agencies with an approved trauma plan, that includes at least one designated trauma center, to submit within 45 days of the request the total number of trauma patients and the number of trauma patients at each facility that were reported to the local trauma registry for the most recent fiscal year for which data are available, pursuant to Section 100257 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. However, the local EMS agencyâs report shall not include any registry entry that is in reference to a patient who is discharged from the trauma centerâs emergency department without being admitted to the hospital unless the nonadmission is due to the patientâs death or transfer to another facility. Any local EMS agency that fails to provide these data shall not receive funding pursuant to this section. (e) Except as provided in subdivision (m), the authority shall distribute all funds to local EMS agencies with an approved trauma plan that includes at least one designated trauma center in the local EMS agencyâs jurisdiction as of July 1 of the fiscal year in which funds are to be distributed. (1) The amount provided to each local EMS agency shall be in the same proportion as the total number of trauma patients reported to the local trauma registry for each local EMS agencyâs area of jurisdiction compared to the total number of all trauma patients statewide as reported under subdivision (d). (2) The authority shall send a contract to each local EMS agency that is to receive funds within 30 days of receiving the required data and shall distribute the funds to a local EMS agency within 30 days of receiving a signed contract and invoice from the agency. (f) Local EMS agencies that receive funding under this chapter shall distribute all those funds to eligible trauma centers, except that an agency may expend 1 percent for administration. It is the intent of the Legislature that the funds distributed to eligible trauma centers be spent on trauma services. The funds shall not be used to supplant existing funds designated for trauma services or for training ordinarily provided by the trauma hospital. The local EMS agency shall utilize a competitive grant-based system. All grant proposals shall demonstrate that funding is needed because the trauma center cares for a high percentage of uninsured patients. Local EMS agencies shall determine distribution of funds based on whether the grant proposal satisfies one or more of the following criteria: (1) The preservation or restoration of specialty physician and surgeon oncall coverage that is demonstrated to be essential for trauma services within a specified hospital. (2) The acquisition of equipment that is demonstrated to be essential for trauma services within a specified hospital. (3) The creation of overflow or surge capacity to allow a trauma hospital to respond to mass casualties resulting from an act of terrorism or natural disaster. (4) The coordination or payment of emergency, nonemergency, and critical care ambulance transportation that would allow for the time-urgent movement or transfer of critically
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