WHAT: A “family reunion” of those who were seriously injured in car and motorcycle crashes, stabbings, athletic practice and more come together to share stories, talk about their progress and celebrate lives saved thanks to Loyola University Medical Center’s Trauma Program.
More than 1,000 patients have been invited to the annual “Loyola Big Save Barbecue” led by Dr. Thomas Esposito, chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center.
Loyola is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Illinois that is verified by the American College of Surgeons, a distinction held by a select group nationwide.
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 20
WHERE: Loyola University Health System, Stritch Cafeteria, 2160 S. First Ave., Maywood, Ill.
To attend, media must contact Stasia Thompson at (708) 417-5036.
MEET: Dan Garczek, 22, who endured 40 surgeries after losing his leg in a car crash, but now walks with a cane and counsels other young trauma patients. He is attending college with an eye towards medical school.
Sharon Gautschy, executive director of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, who learned the value of trauma care firsthand when her brother was airlifted to Loyola’s Trauma Center after a car crash pinned him under a truck for five hours. Told he would never walk again, Trent Gautschy, 41, and father of three, not only walks independently but is back at work as a pipefitter.
Dr. Esposito, who leads the uniquely qualified medical staff at Loyola Level 1 Trauma Center.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.