BREAKING VIDEO: Protestors violently arrested demanding UofC provide trauma center on Chi's South

[elleng]

1. Oh shit. How can this be?

Staffed with specialists, Level 1 trauma centers provide emergency care around the clock to people pulled from the wreckage of automobile accidents, as well as the victims of shootings, stabbings and other traumatic injuries.

Trauma centers are a significant drain on hospitals’ finances. The U. of C. Medical Center closed its trauma center for adults in 1988, but it still provides trauma care for children at Comer Children’s Hospital.

At the time, the city was home to several hospitals capable of handling patients with the most serious injuries, including Michael Reese Hospital on the South Side. But Michael Reese shut its doors completely, and other hospitals subsequently decided to leave the network, creating a paucity of trauma centers for adults in some parts of the city.

U. of C. Medical Center officials have said establishing trauma center would come at the expense of other vital hospital programs.