UF Health Jacksonville is proud to be home to Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia’s only Level I adult and pediatric trauma center. It’s a big part of what positions our organization to become the region’s most valued health care asset.

Providers at UF Health TraumaOne serve more than 4,000 patients from 30 counties each year. These heroes save lives every day.

But what is a hero?

Trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, anesthesia and emergency medicine personnel, nurses, therapists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and our resident trainees are all here to do a job for which they are compensated. But their dedication to trauma care — to not just healing but comforting — is what makes them heroes.

Trauma care is so much more than simply fixing the broken man. It is comforting a patient’s family through a trying time. It is going the extra mile to ensure a patient stays on track in rehabilitation despite extensive follow-up appointments. It is, thankfully, revisiting the emotional connections forged in a person’s darkest hour when that patient walks back through our doors and smiles to greet those heroes who saved their life.

Last month, we welcomed one of those patients at the 12th annual “A Night for Heroes Gala,” honoring the contributions of those who work tirelessly to make our trauma center a leader in the field. The event benefits UF Health TraumaOne by providing the funding to pay for lifesaving equipment and resources to comfort relatives of the trauma patients we serve.

The gala has raised more than $1 million over more than a decade.

UF Health TraumaOne is fiscally responsible in its coordination of the complex medical care and research that make it indispensable to the health of our community. It is through our drive to improve that our trauma providers are able to save lives that may otherwise have been lost.

Sincerely,

Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, MHSA, CPE, FACEP
CEO, UF Health Jacksonville