Trauma System News is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Trauma Innovation Award.

Our honorees are a group of dedicated trauma leaders who have developed creative solutions to a variety of challenges in trauma care, trauma program management and trauma system leadership:

Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital
Winner / Level I or II Trauma Centers
Project: Trauma surgeon Chao-Wen Chen and collaborators broke down longstanding silos to build the first publicly funded regional trauma learning network in Taiwan.

Mississippi Baptist Medical Center
Winner / Level III, IV or V Trauma Centers
Project: Trauma program manager Michelle Goreth and her team responded to a prolonged trauma registry outage by using open-source software to develop a flexible trauma and burn PI database.

The Alfred Hospital
First Runner Up / Level I or II Trauma Centers
Project: Melissa Webb and colleagues in Melbourne, Australia, developed a physiotherapy-led trauma tertiary survey model that resulted in more timely survey completion while maintaining quality.

Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Round Rock
First Runner Up / Level III, IV or V Trauma Centers
Project: Trauma program coordinator Christan Davis and team transformed documentation compliance by replacing conventional audit and feedback approaches with a gamified tournament system.

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
Second Runner Up / Level I or II Trauma Centers
Project: Trauma program manager James Gannon led the development of a regional whole blood distribution model that expanded prehospital access while achieving zero product waste.

Conejos County Hospital
Second Runner Up / Level III, IV or V Trauma Centers
Project: Trauma leaders Adena Ross and Sarah Gilleland (not shown) embedded microlearning and just-in-time training within the clinical environment to ensure trauma readiness in a rural community.

All of our honorees will be presenting their innovative work at the Virtual Summit on Trauma Performance Improvement on June 10. To learn more and register, click: