SAN ANTONIO (Nov. 13, 2013) — Ronald M. Stewart, M.D., FACS, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, trauma surgeon at University Hospital, and physician with UT Medicine San Antonio, has been appointed by the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) as the next chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma (COT).
The Committee on Trauma is dedicated to all phases of injury care – from prevention to rehabilitation. The committee is supported by a network of 65 state and provincial committees, 11 international committees, and five military committees, with the majority of members being Fellows of the American College of Surgeons (FACS).
Dr. Stewart’s appointment as COT Chair was approved by the American College of Surgeons Board of Regents in October. He will succeed Michael F. Rotondo, MD, FACS, of Rochester, N.Y. Dr. Stewart will take office at the conclusion of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Committee on Trauma in March 2014 and will serve as its 19th Chair.
“We congratulate Dr. Stewart and look forward to his leadership and direction as the COT enters its 92nd year of work to improve the care of injured patients,” Dr. Rotondo said.
Dr. Stewart served as chair of the South Texas State COT followed by a term as chief of the Region 6 COT (Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas). He is the Southern Surgical Association’s representative to the American College of Surgeons Board of Governors.
Dr. Stewart has spent his entire professional career at University Hospital, promoting the development of the University Hospital Level I Trauma Center, South Texas’ lead trauma center for both children and adults. For the past 18 years, he also has served as chair of the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council for Trauma, developing the renowned South Texas Trauma System. He recently received the National Safety Council’s Surgeons’ Award for Service for Safety.
University Hospital is an American College of Surgeons’ Verified Level I trauma center, and a participating site for both the ACS Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP®) and the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP ®).
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 29,000 graduates. The $765.2 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.
University Health System is a nationally recognized academic medical center and network of outpatient health centers, owned by the people of Bexar County, Consistently recognized as a leader for going paperless with electronic medical records, University Health System is also the first public health system in Texas to be designated as a Magnet organization by the American Nurses Association. University Hospital is the primary teaching hospital for the UT Health Science Center San Antonio and one of just 15 Level I trauma centers in Texas. Please visit UniversityHealthSystem.com to learn more.