This year marks the fifth anniversary of the University of Chicago Level 1 Trauma Center. To commemorate this important milestone, Brown spoke with Dr. Selwyn Rogers, founding director of the Trauma Center, and local nonprofit leaders Paul Robinson and Teny Gross about what the Center has accomplished in the community and its goals for ‘future.
Since its creation, the adult trauma team has treated 18,494 adult patients and its pediatric trauma team has treated 2,893 children. The Center’s Violence Recovery Team also helped 7,761 people reenter the community through social and behavioral health agencies to reduce the risk of re-injury.
The trauma center and its benefits did not come easily to UChicago; the south side community campaigned for the creation of a trauma center for years before plans to create the UChicago trauma center were revealed in 2015.
Community demand for a local trauma center came after a 1984 protocol change requiring emergency medical services to transport the most seriously injured patients to the nearest trauma center rather than to the nearest hospital. closer. This amendment follows the death of Benjamin Wilson, a high-level high school basketball player, who was shot and killed at the age of 17. Wilson was taken to nearby St. Bernard Hospital for treatment of his injuries, but I had to wait almost two hours to be treated.
The rule change left patients on the South Side, which did not have a trauma center, without access to local treatment for serious traumatic injuries for the next 27 years, leading to the deaths of many more civilians. Among them was Damian Turner, an 18-year-old community activist who was gunned down Aug. 15, 2010, just blocks from UChicago. Turner deceased because there was no adult trauma center nearby that could treat his injury. His death prompted the first calls for the creation of a trauma center at the University.
“(Many community groups) rallied around the idea that a trauma center needed to exist on the South Side, and the most logical place for it was the University of Chicago, the only academic center on the South Side of Chicago,” the Trauma Center said. Director Dr. Selwyn Rogers. “This resistance lasted six years before the University of Chicago changed its mind.”
“The opening of a Level 1 trauma center at UChicago Medicine, which had not been present in nearly three decades, was a pivot, symbolic and literal, for University of Chicago Medicine toward community rather than moving away from the community,” Rogers added. “The community always believed they needed and deserved the trauma center. The university has denied this belief.
As a non-Chicago area native, Rogers reports facing negative reactions from members of the surrounding communities when he was first recruited to run the Trauma Center.
“I’m an outsider,” Rogers said. “(The community) didn’t see Selwyn Rogers, a trauma surgeon, building a trauma center. They saw UChicago, a place that was not friendly to them.
Rogers said many community members don’t have confidence that UChicago’s trauma center will be here to stay, adding that one of the most important parts of the center is that it builds trust with the community.
“(The Center) is having success,” Rogers said. “This is not going to go away. It is now fully integrated. It is part of the DNA of the institution.
Over the past five years, the Trauma Center has also partnered with several nonviolent community advocacy organizations to enhance the Center’s care and help mitigate the effects of gun violence at every stage, including prevention, care and recovery.
For example, their anti-violence team works closely with Chicagoo Create real economic developmentfate (CREDIT), a local nonprofit organization for gun violence prevention. CRED Assistant Director of Programs Paul Robinson says they help patients resolve their legal issues and “connect the dots” needed to help them “get home,” emphasizing the importance of personalized care.
“(Recovery) requires that kind of collaborative, really personal touch of relationship building. From the hospital to community organizations to ensure we have a holistic response.
To promote this type of holistic care, the Trauma Center also works closely with the Institute of Nonviolence Chicagoo focus on the mental health aspects of recovery. Founder Teny Gross emphasizes the need for consistent monitoring, especially with trauma patients.
“(Even those who are) completely innocent and not caught in the cycle (of violence) do not return to normal,” Gross said. “They are not the same after being shot, even if they have nothing to do with life on the streets… People lose their jobs, fall into depression, their families fall apart, so it is very important to invest in support. »
Rogers also highlighted the psychological impact of trauma on patients, noting a general lack of attention to this topic.
“It’s actually quite difficult for the mind to determine the best way to repair, because it’s not entirely clear. For some people, it’s faith. For some people, it’s therapy… But there’s no individualized plan,” Rogers said. “And I can’t ignore the fact that providers, nurses, doctors, residents and medical students are also traumatized by seeing traumatic things.”
Currently, there is no center dedicated to this psychological impact. “It’s a huge problem in this country,” Rogers said.
Although Rogers highlighted areas where the Trauma Center can improve, Gross and other community members highlighted the distinctive approach taken by the Center team.
“At the UChicago Trauma Center, Humanity places a strong emphasis on how people are received and treated – respect,” Gross said. “It’s not just about how to repair your blood vessel… It’s also about how we treat it, right?” Do we treat you like a full human being? We see potential and we see love in you. So I think the University of Chicago Trauma Center has built a model that can really scale to other places.
