Trauma Care Coalition Challenges University of Chicago’s Bid for Obama Library

We say ‘no trauma center, no library’

The University of Chicago wants to build the Obama Library.

But do they have a responsibility to serve the needs of the surrounding community before they get the honor and money that comes with the Obama library?

Please join us for a Town Hall about the Univ. of Chicago’s bid for the Obama Library.
May 8 from 6pm-8pm at University Church (5655 S University)

Victoria Crider, a high school senior and FLY leader, who goes to school just seven blocks from President Obama’s house, says “the University of Chicago has long neglected the needs of black and brown communities on the South Side, including denying access to life saving trauma care, so why should they get the honor and prestige that comes with the Obama Library?”

Ms. Crider notes that “President Obama has tried to stop gun violence and create opportunities for young black men, meanwhile the University of Chicago sits in the center of a gun violence epidemic on the South Side and has shown that it does not value black life, by refusing to open a trauma center and save the lives of the young black men dying at their door.”

We have been protesting the University of Chicago and demanding they open an adult trauma center for nearly four years. Last year the Dean of the University of Chicago Medical Center, Kenneth Polonsky, publicly agreed to collaborate with other hospitals to open a South Side trauma center, However, there has been no follow-up on that promise. Adult level 1 trauma centers are the only facilities certified to treat injuries resulting from severe gunshot wounds or car accidents. The South Side of Chicago, where these injuries are common, does not have an adult trauma center.

The community’s demand for trauma care was sparked by the death of Damian Turner, a youth activist, who was shot in a drive by shooting in 2010 two blocks from the University of Chicago Hospital and driven over 10 miles away to the nearest trauma center where he passed away. The call for trauma care is also supported by new research by Dr. Marie Crandall of Northwestern Hospital on "Trauma Deserts" which shows that longer travel times to a trauma center increase your likelihood of dying.

Invited panelists include:
-Timuel Black, historian and author (CONFIRMED)
-Susan Sher, Senior Advisor to the President of the UofC
-Professor Virginia Parks, SSA
-Representative from the Coalition for Community Benefits
-Representative from the Trauma Care Coalition

This is event is sponsored by the Trauma Care Coalition which includes: Fearless Leading by the Youth (F.L.Y) Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, and Students for Health Equity and allies. Co-sponsored by Graduate Students United