(CHICAGO) A long-sought adult trauma center planned for Holy Cross Hospital on the South Side is now shifting locations — to the University of Chicago medical center campus, officials announced Thursday.
In announcing the switch, U. of C. officials said they’ve now decided “integrating an adult Level 1 trauma center with its Level 1 pediatric trauma program, and Burn and Complex Wound Center would be of great benefit to South Side patients,” the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Thursday’s announcement comes just three months after Sinai Health System, which runs Holy Cross, and U. of C. Medicine said the facility would be built at Holy Cross.
“From the very beginning, what has mattered most is making sure that patients have access to the highest level of trauma care where the needs are great,” said Karen Teitelbaum, president and CEO of Sinai Health System in a statement. “Ultimately, we are gratified that trauma care will be restored in an area of Chicago that is in urgent need of these services. We offer UChicago Medicine our support and more than two decades of Sinai’s Level 1 trauma care expertise as it moves forward with its plans, and look forward to continued collaborations in many facets of clinical care that our institutions have long shared.”
For years, activists have sought the trauma center, citing the distance to other areas for care and how it has negatively affected the odds of survival for victims of violence-plagued communities.
“We deeply value our relationship with Sinai Health System and its enormous contributions to the network of care in Chicago,” Sharon O’Keefe, president of the University of Chicago Medical Center, said in a statement. “We recognize Sinai’s experience and excellence in trauma care. At the end of the day, we realized that integrating all of these services on one site, on our campus, made the most sense for South Side patients.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel also issued a statement: “I applaud the University of Chicago’s plan to strengthen access to the care the community needs most. Having access to a Level 1 adult trauma center, alongside increased access to emergency and specialty care, will strengthen our entire network of care on the South Side.”
The new proposal now awaits state approval before building can begin, officials said.
