Trauma Medical Director’s Introduction

The University of Tennessee Medical Center, like other Level I Trauma Centers, serves as the center of a regionalized system of healthcare. We provide education for caregivers, patients, and the public. We do research to ensure that we are always providing state-of-the-art care. And, we are available to provide care for the most critically ill and injured patients 24-hours-a-day, every day. The Medical Center provides these services for a region which includes much of East Tennessee, as well as portions of several surrounding states.

Several issues continue to face all regional referral centers; for example, the “costs of preparedness”—that is, the cost of having all of the people and equipment necessary to care for these patients available 24-hours-per-day. Another issue is the ability to transfer patients who need rehabilitation to facilities that are more appropriate once the patient’s acute care needs are met. Finally, with more severely injured and ill patients arriving and not leaving as quickly, access and space becomes an issue, leading to the need for more careful triage of patients and a potential limitation of surge capacity, or the ability to handle patients in times of crisis.

These problems are being recognized, both at the state and federal level, but much work remains to be done. This report shows how The University of Tennessee Medical Center continues to provide regionalized care for injured patients. We invite you to read this report, taking a tour of the trauma center and meeting some of the people who are there, every hour of every day, waiting to care for severely injured patients.

Click here to read the full report.

Thank you,
Blaine L. Enderson, MD, MBA, FACS, FCCM
Professor of Surgery and Chief
Division of Trauma/Critical Care
General Surgery, Trauma and Critical Care