Childress gift to establish pediatric trauma institute

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and the family of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress announced they have teamed up to form what will become the nation's most comprehensive Institute for Pediatric Trauma.

The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma will focus on key areas in treatment, education and training, research and prevention of pediatric trauma. The Institute's goal is to help pave the way for others in the nation searching for ways to help save the lives of severely injured children and help those who survive on the road to recovery.

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"Accidental injury and death is the number one killer of children in this nation," said J. Wayne Meredith, M.D., chief of surgery at Wake Forest Baptist, medical director of Trauma Programs for the American College of Surgeons and the interim director of the Institute. "This Institute will have a national impact and bring much more attention and awareness to this issue. We need a better way to treat children and there is not enough research being done."

The Childress family has donated $5 million to the Medical Center to initiate the project, which will get underway later this year. Wake Forest Baptist and the Childress family are currently working with a number of corporations and individuals to raise the additional $20 million to establish the Childress Institute.

"Most people don't know that traumatic injury is the biggest killer of our children," Childress said. "The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma will be the focal point of a national movement to improve the level of pediatric trauma care available across the country. We will assemble the right team to conquer this national crisis in pediatric trauma. The Childress family is committed to making the Childress Institute the leader in pediatric trauma care."

Because of significant programs and infrastructure in place at Wake Forest Baptist, the Institute will be able to devote most of the monies to research, education, treatment and prevention and to raising the national awareness about childhood injuries. The project will also help expand our state-of-the-art pediatric emergency department for the Triad region.

This institute has a goal to become the most comprehensive research center in the country as it develops new research initiatives and partners with other investigators throughout the nation. For example, the Institute will investigate pediatric devices to be used in treating pediatric trauma victims and will study issues including researching the best way to detect, prevent and minimize the effects of a serious injury in a child once it has occurred, Meredith said. The Institute also plans to offer four fellowships in pediatric trauma to help train the next generation of pediatric trauma surgeons.

"There is no one in the country presently studying this issue in a comprehensive manner as this institute is targeted to become," Meredith said. "We won't find a cure for pediatric trauma. You are always going to have injuries, despite our desire to prevent them, and some can't be fixed. But for the kids who do get hurt, we'd like to find a better way to help them and reduce their disability. I think we can make the most difference here."

The Institute will also work with national and regional research groups to pool knowledge and data that can be shared with healthcare providers nationwide.

Charles L. Branch, Jr., M.D., chair of neurosurgery at Wake Forest Baptist, is one of the visionaries behind the formation of the Institute.

"Our goal is to find the best possible way to care for children who have experienced traumatic injuries and then share that information with other trauma centers," Branch said. "We want to help realize the Childresses' vision to help children everywhere to get out of the hospital and back at play or in school and living normal lives as soon as possible."