The challenge

Trauma is an underlying risk factor for the clinical and social complexity of high-risk patients. Without addressing the lingering impact of trauma, care teams willfind limited success stabilizing patients in need. Health care organizations must adopt trauma-informed care to meaningfully improve health outcomes and avoid inadvertently re-traumatizing patients, sowing distrust and alienation, and interfering with care plan adherence.

The organization

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Health is a 796-bed teaching health system. Over 25,000 staff and 3,300 faculty operate medical centers,children’s hospitals, and primary care and specialty clinics in San Francisco and throughout Northern California.

The origin

A trauma surgeon at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center realized that although the UCSF Health may have been successful in healing physical trauma, patients still dealt with the long-term impact of  emotional trauma. In response, UCSF launched the Trauma Recovery Center(TRC) in 2001 to provide comprehensive mental health and case management services to survivors of violent crime, particularly from underserved communities.

The result

The TRC has developed a trauma-informed treatment model that has been replicated across the country. This model of care costs less than traditional approaches and has improved the health, functioning, and satisfaction of patients treated.