Spinal cord injury or paralysis in Tempe: where care starts and how a claim works
The state's trauma list shows no designated trauma center at a Tempe address. The nearest Level I center on it is Banner Desert in Mesa. Chandler Regional and Valleywise are also Level I. A suit over a crash or fall in Tempe is generally due in 2 years. A claim against a public body is due in 180 days.
Last checked November 9, 2026 · Official sources (28)
Where are spinal injuries from Tempe crashes treated?
| Hospital | Where | What the state list says |
|---|---|---|
| Banner Desert | 1400 S. Dobson Rd., Mesa | Level I trauma center |
| Chandler Regional | 1955 W. Frye Rd., Chandler | Level I trauma center |
| Valleywise Health | 2601 E. Roosevelt, Phoenix | Level I trauma center |
| HonorHealth Tempe Medical Center | 1500 S. Mill Ave., Tempe | Has an emergency department, not on the trauma list |
Paramedics choose the hospital based on the injury, so you may not get a say. If you were taken to the Tempe emergency room first, a transfer to a trauma center is common for serious spine injuries. Ask for copies of both sets of records.
What happens in the body after a spinal cord injury?
A spinal cord injury changes how the body works below the point of injury. About one-third of people with these injuries need temporary or permanent help with breathing. Doctors usually can't say right away how much function will return.
Rehab is led by a physical medicine doctor, working with a team. Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix offers inpatient and outpatient neuro-rehabilitation, including work and school re-entry programs.
What does a spinal cord injury cost over a lifetime?
More than most people can plan for. The National SCI Statistical Center breaks costs down by injury level, such as paraplegia and high tetraplegia, for the first year and each year after. Ask your lawyer to use those tables only as a starting point, since your own care team's plan matters more.
Work is part of the loss. Since 2015, 18% of people with traumatic SCI were employed at year one. The same center puts average indirect costs, such as lost income, at $97,787 a year in 2025 dollars. These are averages, not a promise of what any claim will bring.
Who pays for care while a Tempe injury claim is pending?
- Health insurance usually pays first. A hospital can claim a lien on your recovery.
- If Medicare paid anything, it must be repaid from a settlement.
- After a crash on a Tempe street, a typical Arizona car policy covers only $25,000 per person. Insurers must offer you uninsured motorist coverage in writing.
- Arizona's constitution bars limits on injury damages, so the law does not cap the claim itself.
That gap between a policy limit and real costs is why spinal cord cases often look for every possible source of payment, including an employer, a Tempe property owner or a product maker.
What if a city or ADOT road played a part in my crash in Tempe?
The deadline is far shorter. A claim against Tempe goes on the city's Notice of Claim Form to the City Clerk's Office within 180 days. The form must name one settlement amount. If Tempe denies the claim, you then have one year to sue.
Freeways are run by ADOT, not the city. Tempe's own crash plan leaves them out. If the I-10 Broadway Curve work zone played a role, which carries more than 300,000 vehicles on an average weekday, ask your lawyer which agency is responsible.
Questions
Can a family member file for me?
Often a guardian or agent can act when the injured person cannot. Arizona also pauses the clock for a person of unsound mind when the claim arises.
Does it matter that I was partly at fault?
It lowers your award, but it does not bar the claim. Each defendant pays only its own share.
Is there a shorter deadline for children?
Time under age 18 does not count toward the deadline.
Spinal cord injury or paralysis in Tempe? See if you are owed money.
A free case review. $0 upfront. No fee unless you win.
See if I’m owed moneySources (28)
- Arizona Department of Health Services, Designated Trauma Centers, checked 2026-11-08. “Banner Desert Medical Center 1400 South Dobson Rd., Meza, AZ 85202 06/10/24 06/10/27”
- Arizona Department of Health Services, Designated Trauma Centers, checked 2026-11-09. “1955 W. Frye Rd., Chandler, AZ 85224”
- Arizona Department of Health Services, Designated Trauma Centers, checked 2026-11-09. “Valleywise Health 2601 E. Roosevelt, Phoenix, AZ 85008”
- A.R.S. § 12-542, checked 2026-11-08. “within two years after the cause of action accrues”
- Arizona Revised Statutes 12-821.01, checked 2026-11-08. “within one hundred eighty days after the cause of action accrues”
- Barrow Neurological Institute, Neuro-Rehabilitation Center, checked 2026-11-09. “medically managed inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services, work and school re-entry programs”
- Arizona Revised Statutes 12-821.01, checked 2026-11-09. “The claim shall also contain a specific amount for which the claim can be settled and the facts supporting that amount.”
- CMS, checked 2026-11-09. “it must be repaid to Medicare when a settlement, judgment, award, or other payment is made”
- Arizona Constitution, art. 18, sec. 6, checked 2026-11-09. “the amount recovered shall not be subject to any statutory limitation”
- HonorHealth Tempe Medical Center, checked 2026-11-08. “The emergency entrance is on the West side of Mill Avenue.”
- NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “temporary or permanent changes in feeling, movement, strength, and body functions below the point where the injury happens”
- NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “About one-third of people with an SCI will need temporary or permanent help with breathing”
- NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “A doctor specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation usually leads the rehabilitation team.”
- National SCI Statistical Center, checked 2026-11-09. “Paraplegia AIS ABC $705,131 $93,409 $3,139,165 $2,060,139”
- National SCI Statistical Center, checked 2026-11-09. “High Tetraplegia (C1–C4) AIS ABC $1,446,827 $251,246 $6,419,617 $3,528,112”
- National SCI Statistical Center, checked 2026-11-09. “Since 2015, 18% of persons with tSCI are employed at year 1”
- National SCI Statistical Center, checked 2026-11-09. “indirect costs averaged $97,787 per year in 2025 dollars”
- A.R.S. § 33-931, checked 2026-11-09. “is entitled to a lien for the care and treatment or transportation of an injured person”
- A.R.S. § 28-4009(A)(2)(b), checked 2026-11-08. “(i) $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident. (ii) Subject to the limit for one person, $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident. (iii) $15,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.”
- A.R.S. § 20-259.01(A), checked 2026-11-08. “Every insurer writing automobile liability or motor vehicle liability policies shall make available to the named insured thereunder and by written notice offer the named insured and at the request of the named insured shall include within the policy uninsured motorist coverage”
- City of Tempe, Risk Management, checked 2026-11-08. “claims must be filed with the City Clerk's Office within 180 days after the cause of action accrues”
- A.R.S. § 12-821, checked 2026-11-08. “shall be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues and not afterward”
- Tempe Safety Action Plan, checked 2026-11-08. “FSI crashes along all streets within the City's limits other than access-controlled freeways”
- ADOT, Broadway Curve project complete, checked 2026-11-08. “With more than 300,000 vehicles passing through the I-10 Broadway Curve area on an average weekday”
- A.R.S. § 12-502, checked 2026-11-09. “either under eighteen years of age or of unsound mind, the period of such disability shall not be deemed a portion of the period limited for commencement of the action”
- A.R.S. § 12-2505, checked 2026-11-08. “the claimant's action is not barred, but the full damages shall be reduced in proportion to the relative degree of the claimant's fault”
- A.R.S. 12-2506, checked 2026-11-09. “Each defendant is liable only for the amount of damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant's percentage of fault”
- A.R.S. § 12-502, checked 2026-11-08. “the period of such disability shall not be deemed a portion of the period limited for commencement of the action”