ROGERS, Ark. — On June 14, wife, mother, and grandmother Nadia Johnson was in Northwest Arkansas visiting family when she was involved in a rollover crash that left her severely injured.
Nadia's son, Curtis, and her twin brother, DJ, rushed to the hospital to be by her bedside. Not long after, however, the family received news that the hospital was not equipped to help her, and that she was to be flown via helicopter to a hospital in Springfield, Missouri.
Nadia suffered numerous broken bones and hard hits to internal organs, and both of her legs were eventually amputated.
Nearly a month after the crash, Nadia is recovering well and is even able to speak, but still is expected to spend weeks in the hospital.
Now, as her and her family are still reeling from the crash, they've found their burdens compounded by the lack of a Level One Trauma Centers in Northwest Arkansas — an issue they didn't know existed.
Within hours of her crash, Nadia's family was told that the hospital in Rogers didn't have the resources to treat her, and she was flown out of state to Springfield.
"I remember the doctor telling us just flat out that they don't have the tools and resources here to do it," DJ said.
When someone suffers a severe traumatic injury the treatment and care they receive, from start to finish, is crucial in order to recover properly.
Level One Trauma Centers are built for just that, but there's a problem many Arkansans face: there are no Level One centers in Northwest Arkansas, one of the most populous and fastest growing areas in the state.
There are six total Level One Trauma Centers designated by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) in the state's trauma system, and only two of them are actually in Arkansas:
- Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) - Little Rock, AR - Designated Oct. 2021
- CoxHealth - Springfield, MO - Designated Feb. 2022
- Le Bonheur Children's Hospital - Memphis, TN - Designated June 2021
- Mercy Hospital Springfield - Springfield, MO - Designated Feb. 2024
- Regional One Health - Memphis, TN - Designated Feb. 2022
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) - Little Rock, AR - Designated Nov. 2023
Adding insult to injury, there are only four hospitals in the state's system designated as Level Two Trauma Centers, a step below Level One, and only one is in Northwest Arkansas.
The Arkansas Trauma System, maintained by the ADH, was first formed after the passage of Act 393, also known as the Trauma System Act, in 2009.
In the piece of legislation, it's cited that traumatic injuries were recognized as a leading killer of people aged one to 44.
Reaching the Level One designation is not easy, however, and the requirements necessary to earn the Level One status are still out of reach for area hospitals.
With Nadia recuperating in Springfield, it leaves her family helpless hours away as life goes on in Northwest Arkansas.
Curtis says that he and his family have been visiting on the weekends, which is difficult but doable.
"We have the time to be able to go up there, but I can only imagine, like people that are, you know, their job won't allow them to take a couple days off to drive two hours out of state to go visit one of their loved ones that's been in an accident," Curtis said. "Especially with what today's economy is like, it's not cheap to drive two hours out of state every weekend. And plus, when you get out there, you’ve got hotel room cost. You have food and stuff like that."
Both DJ and Curtis said that they love it in Northwest Arkansas, but the situation needs to change, and the people of Northwest Arkansas deserve a Level One Trauma Center.
“Yeah, it's a great area. I mean, I absolutely love it up here. It's a, you know, with us having a daughter now, there's no worry if she's going to be raised in a good area,” Curtis said. “But you know, having to drive and just to be by my mom, you know, in this tragic accident. I mean, this is kind of not really the ideal scenario, I guess, for lack of better words. It's stressful.”
DJ says that he has been living in Fayetteville for seven years now and he’s seen firsthand the growth.
"The population here has skyrocketed since I've been here in the last seven years. So there's not really been any advancements as far as medical care here, to be able to take care of the people," DJ said. "I can't wrap my head around all the growth and the businesses that are here like Walmart and JB Hunt and all these things that are here, while we do not have a Level One facility here."
The family recalls meeting multiple people from all over whose loved ones were being flown into Springfield for medical care, some from Northwest Arkansas.
"You're seeing all these families that are coming in right from our state. There were some instances where they were life-flighted from Bentonville and Centerton and those people passed away on the helicopter, even trying to get there," DJ said.
"A Level One trauma unit would be beneficial, you know, it would have benefited my sister," DJ added. "It's impacting not only my sister, it's impacting everybody."
DJ says that the lack of Level One centers in Northwest Arkansas disproportionally affects families who can't make the trip, and that shouldn't be the case.
"It doesn't matter where you come from, what color you are, your age, your work, your background, none of that. You're still a human being, you deserve the same level of health care," DJ said.
DJ says that the trauma unit in Springfield was “fantastic,” but there needs to be one in Northwest Arkansas as the region continues to grow.
"If there was something here at home, it eases the healing process. These people that get transferred to these units, they not only need the doctors and the blood transfusions and the surgeons, they need their family members as well. You know, for support, let them know everything's gonna be okay," DJ explained.
DJ says that, like many Arkansans, he wasn't aware of the issue until it hit home.
"My sister drove up here from South Alabama to visit her grandbaby and was impacted. So don't think it can't happen to you."
DJ says that going forward, he's hoping the community can band together and advocate for a Level One Trauma Center in the area to better serve people in Northwest Arkansas.
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