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Sept. 12, 2015
The University of Chicago’s recent announcement of plans to build a trauma center on the South Side has many celebrating and lauding this decision. The promised trauma center, as well as plans to build a larger emergency department at Holy Cross Hospital, go a long way toward addressing racial disparities in access to life-saving care. However, we must be careful to realize that the fight does end here.
Community members fought hard to make this dream a reality. And they succeeded. So now, there’s not really that much more to do if you really think about it (I did). A $40 million allotment? A team of dedicated trauma specialists aiming to make a difference? A commitment to work with community leaders to ensure that this money is put to the best possible use? I mean, they saw a problem, and they solved it, by golly.
We can all breathe now. We were all on edge over the past few years after Dean Kenneth Polonsky, Executive Vice President for ofMedical Affairs,the UChicago Medical Center committed publicly to contribute to efforts to bring a trauma center to the South Side. But now that Sinai Health System has agreed to collaborate with U of C on this task, we have nothing to fear. They set out to do it, and they did it.
As I mentioned, this move on the part of the University may be a big step toward an equitable future for Americans of all colors and backgrounds. But in my opinion, the part that too often gets overlooked is that it’s also a big step toward a trauma center. In getting caught up in the big picture, we often forget to look at what’s right in front of us. Especially when there’s a trauma center in front of us. Which there will be, very very soon.
Overall, we should be very relieved on a day like today. We not only gained a trauma center, but we have been alleviated of any responsibility to do anything else about injustice. And isn’t that a form of justice in itself?
