Excellent care doesn’t just happen in a healthcare system. It is the outcome of an organization that is committed to ensuring its entire team continues learning and growing, and is always prepared to offer the best, safest, high-quality healthcare. That’s Beebe’s focus for care in Sussex County.

As we begin celebrating the new year and working on our list of resolutions, all Beebe team members are participating in important team training. The multi-phased, multi-year training is called Trauma-Informed Care, and its purpose is to further improve care delivery, patient outcomes, social determinants of health assessments, and connection to appropriate resources. Education and training in the first phase are focused on trauma awareness – understanding the potential impacts of adverse childhood experiences, commonly called ACEs, on our health as well as recognizing the likelihood of traumatic or stressful events experienced by our patients, fellow community members, and co-workers. We all have stories, some old and some new. We certainly all share the experience of navigating a pandemic over the past two years – traumatic at times for us all. We have come together as a community; we have supported and cared for each other, family, friends and neighbors, but our work is not done.

In early 2020, our Beebe Goes Purple Committee, which is focused on needs around substance use disorder, recognized that next steps needed to include education on trauma and its potential impact on behaviors and health outcomes. Hence, the Trauma-Informed Committee was created. Rita Williams, Shawna Mayles and Kim Blanch invited Tara Simpson, Niki Morris, Jessie Simpson, Ngozi Azuogu, Sharon Mack, Megan Roy, Monica Scott, and Chris Lowell to collaborate to bring this initiative to Beebe. These Beebe team members represent a broad spectrum of services within the organization, including organizational development, information technology, patient experience, oncology services, population health and more.

A vital partnership also developed with Dr. Deb Berke and Connie Fazzio from Wilmington University and Trauma Matters Delaware, that has supported Beebe in being the first healthcare system in Delaware to bring this important education forward. Trauma-informed care cultivates the understanding that not all wounds can be seen. It means learning and becoming aware of your own trauma/life experiences and understanding that trauma can impact the way you see and interact with others. Recognizing that life experiences are often the root cause of poor health is integral to improving patient care.

Beebe is a healthcare organization, and healthcare is holistic in that it involves the whole person. A trauma-informed care approach helps us take these experiences into account and ultimately helps improve health outcomes for this community. I am proud to be a partner with these dedicated professionals who are committed to walking Beebe through this trauma-informed training together so Beebe, as an entire healthcare system, is prepared to recognize trauma, be sensitive to individual needs, and be best prepared to care for this community as we all heal together. As we celebrate this new year, may our collective first resolution be to listen, be patient, take care of ourselves and one another, and be sensitive to each individual’s story.

The development of training and resources for all staff is the result of the dedicated work of Beebe’s Trauma-Informed Committee, in partnership with Dr. Deb Berke of Wilmington University and Trauma Matters Delaware. Funding for this first year is made possible through the generous support of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware and the Beebe Medical Foundation’s Beebe Goes Purple Fund.

As a community-based, not-for-profit healthcare system, Beebe Healthcare depends on the generous support of the community it serves. To make a gift to celebrate the excellent care you or a loved one has received, please visit Beebe Medical Foundation at beebemedicalfoundation.org or call 302-644-2900. Want to share your story? Contact Amanda Neal at aneal@beebehealthcare.org.