With the launch of Level 1 adult trauma services on May 1, 2018, UChicago Medicine now offers the highest level of care for life-threatening injuries. For the physicians, nurses and clinicians who are involved in a trauma care, it's also a unique opportunity to develop a comprehensive and integrated program to break the cycle of gun violence on the South Side.
"Obviously it’s a huge job to stand up a Level 1 trauma center from the ground up,” said Selwyn Rogers Jr., MD, MPH, director of the University of Chicago Medicine’s new Level 1 Adult Trauma Center and chief of trauma and acute care surgery. “But it can’t be the only solution.”
For Rogers, filling the 27-year absence of adult trauma care on Chicago’s South Side is part of a much larger mission: reduce the violence that has left residents devastated and a generation traumatized.
“I attend a community event here on the South Side and there might be 100 people in the room, half of whom know someone who’s been killed by gun violence,” said Rogers, who also serves as executive vice president for community health engagement. “What does that do to someone’s psyche? What does that do to their sense of wellness?”