Dr. Katherine McKenzie, Medical Director of the Trauma Program at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center recently shared her experiences over the course of the last year with a reporter at NY 1 News.
During the interview, Dr. McKenzie explained how Jamaica Hospital, like many other hospitals in New York City was confronted by two health crises in 2020. The first is obviously COVID-19, but the other that had a major impact on Level 1 Trauma Centers such as Jamaica Hospital’s, is the drastic rise in gun violence.
Dr. McKenzie explained how she, and her fellow trauma surgeons were deployed during the height of the pandemic to treat COVID positive patients in Jamaica Hospital’s ICUs, a job that they were able to perform due to their critical care training. As the first wave subsided and fewer patients were hospitalized due to the virus, the trauma team then refocused their attention to treat an increased amount of patients suffering from penetrating wounds, such as stabbings and gun violence. Since the late spring, the number of trauma patients with such injuries at Jamaica Hospital has nearly doubled.
During the interview, Dr. McKenzie took the reporter on a tour of the Emergency Department’s trauma bay and one of the O.R. suites dedicated to the trauma service.
Thank you to Dr. McKenzie and the entire trauma team for the valuable service they provide to our community.
To see the full segment, click here: