About the Indiana Trauma Care Commission
On Sept 27, 2023, Governor Eric J. Holcomb appointed the Indiana Trauma Care Commission, a 13-member commission with both two year and four year terms . A link to the senate bill that helped establish the commission can be found here.
Appointments for the Indiana Trauma Care Commission
| Role/Representing | Member | Representing |
|---|---|---|
| State Health Commissioner/Chair | Lindsay Weaver, MD | Indiana Department of Health |
| Director or Director's Designee | Jonathan Whitham | Indiana Department of Homeland Security |
| Family Social Services Administration Secretary | Ann Zerr, MD | Family Social Services Administration |
| American College Surgeons Committee on Trauma | Erik Streib, MD | Chair of Indiana Committee of Trauma/Eskenazi Health |
| Indiana Hospital Association | Andy VanZee, MHA | Indiana Hospital Association |
| Emergency Medical Services for Children | Elizabeth Weinstein, MD | IU Health - Riley Hospital for Children |
| Level I Trauma Center Physician | Lewis E. Jacobson, MD | Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital |
| Indiana Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians/Emergency Medicine Physician | Emily Fitz, MD | Eskenazi Health |
| Registered Nurse/Trauma Program Manager | Lisa Hollister, DNP, MSN, RN | Parkview Health |
| Level I Pediatric Trauma Center Physician | Matthew Landman, MD | IU Health - Riley Hospital for Children |
| Rural Area Hospital Physician | David Welsh, MD | Margaret Mary Health |
| Level II Trauma Center Physician | Scott Thomas, MD | Memorial Hospital of South Bend |
| Level II Trauma Center Physician | Jay Woodland, MD | Deaconess Midtown Hospital |
Meetings of the Indiana Trauma Care Commission
| Date | Agenda | Memoranda | Additional Documents | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2026 |
Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | Recording |
| February 6, 2026 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | Recording |
| November 7, 2025 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | Recording |
| August 1, 2025 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | Recording |
| May 2, 2025 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | |
| February 7, 2025 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | |
| November 22, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | |
| August 2, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | |
| May 3, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | |
| February 2, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | |
| January 4, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes | Meeting Presentation | |
| November 3, 2023 | Agenda | Meeting Notes |
Indiana Trauma Care Commission Attendance Guidelines and Electronic Communications Meeting Policy |
"In the Process of ACS Verification" Process
The EMS Commission's Triage and Transportation Rule permits hospitals to be considered "trauma centers" if the hospital is either:
- Verified by the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
- Designated a "trauma center" by a neighboring state's trauma center designation system (if comparable to ACS' system).
- "In the process of ACS verification".
The EMS Commission partners with the Indiana State Trauma Care Commission (ISTCC) to review "in the process of ACS verification" applications. The ISTCC/State Health Commissioner reviews the hospital's application. The State Health Commissioner then recommends to the EMS Commission whether a hospital should be considered a "trauma center" for this Rule's purposes. The "In the process of ACS verification" process application is available on the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (EMS Commission) website. Hospitals must provide sufficient documentation for the IDOH to conclude that the hospital complies with a series of requirements. The provisional trauma center status shall not exceed 2 years from the date the provisional status begins. If the hospital is not able to become verified a trauma center within that 2-year period:
- Provisional status is revoked.
- Hospital cannot re-apply for "in the process" status for at least 3 years.
As of April 2014, all "in the process of ACS verification" trauma centers must complete a 1-year review to ensure the hospital is on track to becoming verified within the 2-year period.
If your hospital was granted "in the process of ACS verification" status complete the 1-year review checklist and supporting documents. These documents will be sent to the Trauma Program Manager listed on the "In the process of ACS verification" application by the Director of the Division of Trauma and Injury Prevention at IDOH two months before the documents are due.
Please note: always check the ACS website to ensure you schedule your Consultation/Verification visits in time!
These are the spreadsheets needed for the "in the process of ACS verification" applications: Level II and III excel spreadsheets.
Trauma Disaster Preparedness and Military Integration Subcommittee
| January 16, 2026 |
| April 10, 2026 |
| June 19, 2026 |
| August 28, 2026 |
| October 23, 2026 |
| If you would like to participate in this subcommittee, please contact Vince Benchino at vbenchino@health.in.gov. |
Trauma Education and Outreach Subcommittee
| Date |
| January 29, 2026 |
| March 18, 2026 |
| June 3, 2026 |
| August 19, 2026 |
| October 28, 2026 |
| If you would like to participate in this subcommittee, please contact Vince Benchino at vbenchino@health.in.gov. |
Trauma Performance Improvement Subcommittee
| Date |
| January 22, 2026 |
| April 23, 2026 |
| July 16, 2026 |
| September 17, 2026 |
| November 19, 2026 |
| If you would like to participate in this subcommittee, please contact Vince Benchino at vbenchino@health.in.gov. |
Trauma Registry Subcommittee
| Date |
| January 7, 2026 |
| May 6, 2026 |
| July 1, 2026 |
| September 2, 2026 |
| November 4, 2026 |
| If you would like to participate in this subcommittee, please contact Vince Benchino at vbenchino@health.in.gov. |
Trauma System Planning Subcommittee
| Date |
| February 4, 2026 |
| April 15, 2026 |
| August 5, 2026 |
| October 7, 2026 |
| If you would like to participate in this subcommittee, please contact Vince Benchino at vbenchino@health.in.gov. |
Trauma System Development
| Project Title: Trauma Level 3 to Level 2 Host: Franciscan Health - Crown Point Overview: Improves quality of care, timeliness, and access to higher level of acuity for trauma care in North-West region. |
| Project Title: Trauma Level 2 to Level 1 Host: Parkview Hospital Overview: This program will support trauma system development by providing trauma research coordination and scholarly conference participation as a path to upgrade from a Level II Trauma Center to a Level I (highest level trauma verification) Trauma Center verification. |
| Project Title: Rural Delivery / Whole Blood Host: Crawfordsville Fire Department Overview: Project centers on the addition of Low Titer O+ Whole Blood (LTO+WB) to ambulances and first responder vehicles in rural areas, allowing for whole blood transfusions in the pre-hospital setting. Approach to improve rural health outcomes of traumatically injured individuals in Montgomery County. |
| Project Title: Trauma System Development Host: Indiana Hospital Association Overview: Project aims to assist with 1) TRAC development including designation exploration, 2) Education and Outreach including training, 3) Registry improvement including exploring automation, 4) annual trauma symposium activation. |
| Project Title: Rural Trauma Simulation Program Host: Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) Overview: Simulation-based Training for Indiana's Rural Trauma System Project focuses on increasing the confidence and competence of healthcare professionals and the quality of care for the state's small rural and critical access hospitals related to adult and pediatric trauma utilizing simulation-based methodologies. The RHIC has developed and provides on-site, regionally-based simulation training events at rural hospitals to increase their readiness and competence in caring for trauma patients. |
Quality Improvement
| Project Title: Informational Exchange / Coordination of Care Host: IU Methodist Hospital Overview: This proposal outlines the development of a collaborative quality improvement (CQI) program that will include six non-trauma hospitals and Indiana University Health – Methodist Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center. The project focuses on 1) creating the instruments and protocols necessary to conduct CQI with non-trauma hospitals, 2) conducting CQI activities and creating a dissemination and implementation toolkit to assist other trauma centers as they engage non-trauma hospitals in CQI, 3) increasing engagement with non-trauma hospitals, and 4) promoting quality improvement. |
Trauma Center & Non-trauma Center Engagement
| Project Title: Trauma Patient Registry Training & Education Host: Indiana Trauma Network (ITN) Overview: ITN seeks to improve the accountability, accuracy, validity, and reliability of the state trauma registry to ensure high-quality trauma data is abstracted and submitted uniformly throughout the state; this will allow for district and statewide training and education projects to focus on improving patient outcomes, patient triage to the right place at the right time, and resource availability. |
Injury Prevention
| Project Title: Prescription for Hope Host: Eskenazi Health Overview: This project addresses the crisis of youth and violence. Prescription for Hope (Rx Hope) will provide strategic social interventions at the individual/family level, while targeting adolescents and young adults who are at-risk or have a history of judicial system involvement, complex traumas, or violence. In addition, Prescription for Hope will work with other trauma centers in the state alongside the associated school districts to provide training and exposure to resources. |
| Project Title: Falls Prevention Host: IU Methodist Hospital Overview: Project aims to prevent and reduce older adult falls, through collaboration to increase fall prevention outreach, create tangible connections to needed resources and break down barriers for individuals at risk. To meet these project goals, the collaborative will create and disseminate a provider toolkit for fall prevention, create and disseminate a fall prevention brochure for older adults in each community, create a direct referral system between each hospital and their local community resources, refer into free Tai Chi classes, and provide one-time financial assistance for their fall prevention needs. |
| Project Title: Store It Safe- Firearm Safety Host: IU Riley / Indiana American Academy of Pediatrics Overview: Store it Safe program aims to provide clinicians with the education and training on how to talk to patients about the importance of safe firearm storage, as well as providing resources like gun lock boxes that can be used to keep families safe. The program improves quality of care by enhancing pediatric clinician intervention with families about safe firearm storage. |
| Project Title: Better Future Clinic Host: Parkview Hospital Overview: Project aims to provide services and personnel for a thorough child maltreatment medical follow-up visit by a pediatrician, pediatric coordinator, and/or nurse practitioner to provide a foster care medical bridge for children, and a social worker in a brand-new child friendly clinic post suspected child abuse or neglect. |
| Project Title: D10 EMS Blanket Warmers Host: Deaconess Health & District 10 Overview: Aim includes a documented mortality difference in Level 1 (highest acuity activation) trauma patients arriving with hypothermia compared to no hypothermia. Level 2 trauma center is a high-volume center with a large catchment area and many patients arrive via ground transport with prolonged transport times. Issue has been discussed collaboratively with district 10 trauma partners. The goal is to provide "soft blanket warmer" for all active EMS trucks in district 10. EMS teams will re stock their warmer from the hospital blankets as they leave so there are no additional costs. |
| Project Title: Violence Intervention Program Host: Indy Peace & IU Methodist Hospital Overview: IU Health Methodist Hospital trauma center has partnered with the Indy Public Safety Foundation and Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety to provide intervention services for individuals injured by firearm violence with an aim to continue the intervention support services of mental healthcare, barrier buster patient assistance funds, and professional development of frontline staff. |
