As we now approach the sixth anniversary of the creation of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Chicago, there is much exciting news to share.
Expansion of our faculty continues apace. Miguel Daccarett (trauma) joined us in March, Sara Wallace (adult reconstruction) in September, and Yasemin Ozcan and Jonathan Shin (PM&R) in December. Physician assistants Haley Bloom and Alana Eatinger (trauma) and Meghan Day (joints) also joined us this year. The current academic year will see even more recruitments; at the time of writing this, the department has 7 active faculty searches underway – all for individuals who will start work in the summer of 2019.
The May 1, 2018 opening of our adult Level I trauma center went smoothly and according to plan. We are now the busiest trauma center in Chicago and are on pace to see well in excess of 3,000 activations in our first year. We are very busy, but a dedicated trauma team and a great deal of assistance from the entire department have made for outstanding team care and the best quality in the city. We are busy enough to need another trauma faculty member, and will be recruiting one to begin work in the summer of 2019.
We are very excited that, in July 2018, UChicago Medicine announced the official creation of the UChicago Medicine Musculoskeletal Center, the first such center to span the entire UChicago healthcare system. The Center will be responsible for developing and growing systems that can coordinate and assure access, quality, and satisfaction for all patients who seek musculoskeletal care from UChicago Medicine. We hope that, in the future, the Center will also include an orthopaedic hospital, a location where all musculoskeletal patients in the healthcare system will have their procedures, surgeries, and other care. We feel the future is exciting and bright for UChicago Orthopaedic Surgery in the Southland.
I am delighted to be associated with this Department and its programs and I am proud of the outstanding progress we have made. I am particularly excited, however, about what we will achieve in the next five years and I look forward to our future endeavors at the University of Chicago and on a national level.
