University Hospital
Newark’s University Hospital is the state’s only public hospital. It also has the distinction of being the only Level I Trauma Center in northern New Jersey – a designation that denotes that the hospital’s emergency department offers the highest possible level of care.
In 2021, HFNJ provided at $197,994 grant to University Hospital to help the hospital build on its strengths to create a model trauma team.
Through this project, three trauma center faculty took part in a comprehensive simulation course at the Harvard Center for Medical Simulation. Faculty have taken part in two trauma care training programs – one called ATLS and one called ASSET – which then provide the faculty certification to teach these programs to others. Four faculty members have been trained in ASSET, and University Hospital is now one of the few select Trauma Centers to participate in the American College of Surgeons’ pilot program for ATLS certified instructors. Simulation training equipment purchased for University Hospital through this project included a Simulab TraumaMan, TraumaChild, and the Infant Airway Simulator.
Through the project, the trauma team not only enhanced their own skills – it helped University Hospital become a regional trauma training hub which will employ a train the trainer model to increase the skills of other trauma teams across northern New Jersey.