e-Trauma Update
February 2016
Commissioner Appoints Six STAC Members; Three
Members’ Terms Conclude
In January, MDH Commissioner Dr. Edward Ehlinger re-appointed three State Trauma
Advisory Council (STAC) members. John Fossum, Gayle Williams and Dr. Robert Roach were
all re-appointed to four-year terms.
Three STAC members’ terms expired in January too. Dr. Kurt Martinson completed his fouryear term; and Dr. Chad Robbins and Peter Lindbloom, PA-C, each completed their second
four-year term. Drs. Martinson and Robbins and Mr. Lindbloom participated in a variety of
subcommittees, work groups and system initiatives. Their contributions and expertise have
helped to shape the future of the trauma system. Thank you for your service!
Commissioner Ehlinger also appointed Dr. Sharon Moran from Essential Health St. Mary’s
Medical Center in Duluth to the Level 1 or 2 Trauma Surgeon seat. He appointed Dr. Craig
Henson from Lakewood Health System in Staples as the STAC Rural General Surgeon
representative. And the commissioner appointed Alan Johnson, PA-C, from RC Hospital in
Olivia to the Rural Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner seat. Welcome, Drs. Moran and
Henson and Mr. Johnson!
New Trauma System Designation Coordinator Joins the
Team!
The statewide trauma system is excited to announce that Marty Forseth has recently begun
his new role as the designation coordinator. Marty joins Tammy Peterson as the second
designation coordinator and will be working directly with hospitals to support their trauma
programs. Together they will manage 129 adult and pediatric trauma hospital designations.
Marty comes to ORHPC with over 30 years of experience in hospital and EMS administration
and leadership, 22 of those years with the HealthEast Care System. Marty also has seven
years of public health preparedness experience, coordinating various community programs,
effectively collecting and using public health data and leading advisory committees.
Welcome, Marty!
Trauma Data Analyst Joins the Team!
Julie Hoffer rounded out the trauma system team by accepting the position of Research
Scientist in November. She has previous experience as a visiting professor at Macalester
College teaching epidemiology and study design, along with various research positions at
MDH. Julie most recently worked for Medtronic where she provided data analysis and
support for the investigation of neuromodulation devices. She is experienced in working
with varied data sources to build reports for analysis. Julie will spend half of her time
assisting the trauma system with its performance improvement initiatives. The rest of her
professional time is spent creating similar data linkages and research for the MDH Stroke
Program.Welcome Julie!
Level 4 Work Group to Be Appointed
At their December meeting, the STAC resolved to appoint a work group to review the
current Level 4 trauma hospital criteria requirements and make recommendation to the
council for modifications. The STAC undertook a similar initiative in 2011 to review the Level
3 trauma hospital criteria.
The inaugural meeting of the work group is expected to be scheduled for April or May.
Meetings will be a hybrid of both in-person and teleconference. Those interested in
participating in the work group should contact Chris Ballard, Trauma System Coordinator, at
651-201-3841 or [email protected].
Data Work Group to Release Their Second Set Of
Recommendations
The STAC Data Work Group is expected to pitch their proposal for new trauma registry
inclusion criteria and a new trauma registry data set to the STAC at their March 2016
meeting. The work group spent many hours analyzing the value of each data element
collected. They strived to minimize hospitals’ work while retaining a data set that can be
used to reliably assess the performance of the system and assist individual hospitals to
benchmark against state aggregate data.
In September 2015 the work group released, and the STAC adopted, its proposed plan for
the transition to ICD-10. Learn more about the STAC Data Work Group’s charge.
Change is in the Air: New Process for Distributing Site Visit
Reports
Trauma system staff are working to change the process in which reports are distributed to
Level 3 trauma hospitals following the site visit. The goal is to reduce the time between the
site visit and when the hospital receives its report. Under the new process, the report will
immediately follow the site visit rather than being held until the designation is awarded.
The change primarily affects Level 3 designations that expire in March and September and
should reduce the lag time by as much as four months.
Mark Your Calendars: Upcoming Events
February 19: Minnesota Trauma Registry Alliance Meeting; Maplewood
March 8: Trauma Program Managers Networking Meeting; Shoreview
March 8: RTAC Leadership Forum; Shoreview
March 8: State Trauma Advisory Council Meeting; Shoreview
March 14: Southwestern Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee
Meeting; Marshall
March 16: Trauma Hospital Profile Training; Webinar
March 17: Central Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee Meeting; St. Cloud
March 17: Western Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee Meeting; Detroit
Lakes
March 24: PI Forum: Part 1 (Hosted by SMRTAC); Mankato
April 20: RTAC Summit; TBD
April 21: Southern Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee Meeting; Owatonna
June 7: Trauma Program Managers Networking Meeting; Shoreview
June 7: RTAC Leadership Forum; Shoreview
June 7: State Trauma Advisory Council Meeting; Shoreview
June 7: RTAC Leadership Forum; Shoreview
June 9: Southern Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee Meeting; Owatonna
June 13: Southwestern Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee Meeting; Marshall
June 16: Central Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee Meeting; St. Cloud
June 16: Western Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee Meeting; Detroit Lakes
View trauma system calendar of events