New South Side Trauma Center Sees 64 Patients In First Week

CHICAGO, IL - The new Level 1 adult trauma center at the University of Chicago Medical Campus has seen 64 patients in the week since it opened and became the first operating trauma center on the city's South Side in 27 years. The trauma designation at UChicago officially came on May 1, making it the first adult trauma center in the area since the former Michael Reese Hospital permanently closed their trauma center in 1991.

Hospital officials updated members of the media on Tuesday with the statistics from the first week. They said about 58 percent of the patients cared for at the new center suffered blunt trauma, which includes car crashes, falls and assaults. The other 42 percent or so suffered penetrating trauma, which includes gunshot wounds, stabbings and impalements.

The first week of May has seen a significant number of violent incidents, even by Chicago's standards. Over just the first two days of the month, there were at least 27 reported shootings and two stabbings, including one fatal. ALSO ON PATCH: 85 Shot In Chicago During Most Violent Week Of Year

Information shared with the media by Chicago police indicates that while several trauma patients were taken to the new center over the first week, a few were still taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

RELATED: New Trauma Center Could Relieve Patient Volume At Christ ER

Photo courtesy of the University of Chicago Medicine