We started out with two violence recovery specialists. The program addresses wraparound services like psychological safety and support for victims of violence (as well as their families). UChicago Medicine developed a Violence Recovery Program (VRP) to run parallel to the clinical care the trauma team delivers to patients and their families. What programs have been created to promote this recovery? And what role does the trauma center have in preventing violence in the community? Q: The trauma center takes a holistic view of recovery. What do we do with patients from a motor vehicle crash? What programs do we need to develop a high-functioning, high-touch passionate trauma center that is community- facing? This is where listening to the community was so vital. We created policies about what to do in different situations. We did an analysis of what needed to be bolstered and did tabletop exercises and training about how we get a trauma patient from point A to the operating room or ICU. This is not a job for the weak of spirit and it's not for those who lack courage. And individuals who at the core were good people, but also great surgeons. Folks committed to social justice, who are committed to something greater than themselves. I wanted to recruit the best of the best. Q: How did the mission of serving the community guide your processes? So humbly, I just said, “I just want to listen.” I think that set the stage for how we developed the trauma center, how I recruited faculty and staff, and how we’ve advanced certain programs and initiatives to address the needs of the community we serve. People felt the University had turned a blind eye to the needs of the community for so long that the relationship was damaged, tattered and broken. When I was meeting people in the community, I was faced with extreme hostility. What I didn’t realize was the other side: building trust with the community in solidarity to stand up this Level 1 trauma center. It was clear to me there were going to be many challenges - some logistical, some resource-related. It is people, policies and programs working together to create a system of care to take care of the most severely injured. The trauma center is not an emergency department. What challenges did you face in the beginning? Q: The need for a Level 1 trauma center on the South Side of Chicago was clear. For me, it’s a passion and it’s spiritual. That's why I have persisted and that's why I have survived and thrived in this role. Partly because it had not been done for three decades, but also because of what I sensed from the community – that a center was a long-standing desire, and that there must have been significant resistance. When I interviewed and when I talked to people, I realized it was going to be a very heavy lift to develop one. In that context, I was really struck by the absence of an adult Level 1 trauma center on the South Side. Tell us about your mindset in those early days.īefore being asked to look at this position, I had actually never been on the University of Chicago campus. Q: You were appointed founding director five years ago to help build the center, its team, and its programming. Rogers Jr., MD, MPH, Professor of Surgery and founding director of UChicago Medicine’s trauma center, to discuss how the team is caring for the community, preventing violence and their hope of reducing trauma. At the five-year anniversary of the opening of University of Chicago Medicine’s adult Level 1 trauma center, we sat down with Selwyn O.
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