Trauma System News is pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 2026 Trauma Innovation Award.
The Trauma Innovation Award recognizes fresh ideas that result in better care for injured patients.
The goal of this award is to honor individuals and teams that have developed a creative solution to any challenge in trauma care, trauma program management or trauma system leadership.
Representatives from any designated trauma center or regional trauma network worldwide may nominate their organization for the Trauma Innovation Award.
Your nomination should describe how you or your team developed and implemented a creative solution to a problem in trauma care, trauma program management or trauma system leadership. For example, share how your team:
> Designed a low-cost intervention that reduced patient complication rates
> Implemented a new trauma bay choreography that decreased ED dwell times
> Developed a simple process change that resulted in more effective documentation
> Introduced a new way of monitoring PI issues that facilitates loop closure
> Devised a unique approach to interfacility communication that cut transfer times
> Created a new approach to staff education that improved survey readiness
> Leveraged a new technology to increase the effectiveness of injury prevention efforts
These are just a few examples. We are looking for innovative solutions to any challenge faced by trauma program and trauma system leaders today.
Each winning organization will receive a financial grant that can be directed to the program need of its choice.
Awards will be presented in two separate categories:
> Level I or Level II trauma centers
> Level III, Level IV or Level V trauma centers
The top award winner in each category will receive $2,500. In addition, the first runner-up in each category will receive $1,000 and the second runner-up in each category will receive $500.
| Level I-II | Level III-IV-V | |
| Winner | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| First Runner Up | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| Second Runner Up | $500 | $500 |
To nominate your organization for the Trauma Innovation Award, use the form below to submit a short description of the problem your team faced, the innovation you developed, and the results it achieved.
All nominations will be evaluated for creativity, efficiency and impact, and a group of semifinalists will be selected to advance to final judging.
Semifinalists will be asked to provide additional information about their innovation.
Finally, semifinalist entries will be evaluated by an independent panel of national trauma experts, and winners will be announced in May 2026.
The judges of the 2026 Trauma Innovation Award include:
> Andrew Bernard, MD, FACS, trauma medical director, UK HealthCare, and past president of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST)
> LeAnne Young, MSN, RN, TCRN, CENP, director of nursing, trauma and injury prevention, Texas Children’s Hospital, and immediate past president of the Society of Trauma Nurses (STN)
> Rebecca Geyer, MSN, RN, TCRN, director of performance improvement, Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation (PTSF), and board member of the Board of Certification for Emergency Nurses (BCEN)
> Brody Eick, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, CCRN, TCRN, NE-BC, director of trauma services, Eisenhower Health, and board member of the Society of Trauma Nurses (STN) and the Board of Certification for Emergency Nurses (BCEN)
The final winners of the Trauma Innovation Award will be asked to present their winning innovations at the Virtual Summit on Trauma Performance Improvement in June 2026.
In addition, all final winners and semifinalists will be featured in a special issue of Trauma System News — the 2026 Special Report on Trauma Innovation, which will be published in June 2026.
Use the form below to nominate your organization for the Trauma Innovation Award. Organizations are free to submit multiple entries.
The nomination portal will close at the end of the day on April 7, 2026.