Life Flight: Trauma Center Houston Premieres on Lifetime

(February19, 2015)

New TV Series to Showcase Memorial Hermann’s Air Ambulance Service, Level I Trauma Team

HOUSTON (February 19, 2015)

Memorial Hermann and Lifetime announced today the upcoming premiere of Life Flight: Trauma Center Houston, a six-episode docudrama series that will air on Lifetime, beginning Monday, March 2 at 8 p.m. CST. Highlighting not only the Memorial Hermann Life Flight® team but also Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center (TMC) and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital staff, nurses and affiliated physicians from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, the original series will give viewers a front row seat to all of the real-life action inside the Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute, one of the nation’s busiest Level I trauma centers, following the clinicians as they deal with high-risk, high-stress situations while racing against the clock to save the lives of their patients in critical condition.

“Lifetime has an outstanding reputation for exciting, high-quality programming – both scripted and unscripted. We’re thrilled to partner with them for this unique opportunity to show the public how a busy Level I trauma center operates. Everyone will be able to see firsthand just how much, and how many, it takes to save a life,” said Craig Cordola, Regional President of Memorial Hermann. “The work our employees and physicians do every day is truly inspiring and our hope is that this will serve as an unofficial tribute to all hospital employees out there who sacrifice so much every day to be there for all of us in our greatest time of need.”

Lifetime will air two back-to-back episodes of the show every Monday for three weeks, ending March 16. Filmed over a two year period, the series will serve as the anchor program for the cable network’s Monday night programming lineup.

“We are very excited to partner with Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center on Life Flight: Trauma Center Houston. In telling important stories, this compelling series captures the intense life-and-death situations its staff faces daily while serving on the front lines as some of America’s busiest first-responders,” said Christian Drobnyk, Senior Vice President, Programming Strategy and Acquisitions of Lifetime.

Memorial Hermann says it sees the series as a rare and ideal opportunity to provide not just the local community but a national audience with vital injury prevention education. “A trauma occurs every four seconds in the United States making traumatic injury the leading cause of death and disability for Americans under the age of 44,” said John Holcomb, M.D., director of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at McGovern Medical School and director of the Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute. “However, trauma is largely preventable, and Memorial Hermann is committed to advancing the health of the community through a focus on injury prevention. Our goal remains to reduce the number of traumatic events we see at our hospital every day, and this show strengthens that commitment by offering our community – and all Americans – critical injury prevention education that could very well save someone’s life.”

Located in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, the Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute is built on a foundation of a long-term collaboration between the Memorial Hermann-TMC Campus and McGovern Medical School. Designated as the only Level I Trauma Center for both adults and children in Houston, as well as the city’s only verified burn center, the Institute sees more than 16,000 adult and pediatric trauma patients a year while bringing together a world-class team of clinicians, researchers and educators armed with the latest in research and technology to deliver comprehensive, life-saving services to the residents of the Gulf Coast region.

The Institute is also home to Life Flight, the city’s only hospital-based air ambulance service. Founded in 1976 as Texas’ first civilian helicopter EMS, Life Flight operates around the clock – 24-hours a day, 365 days a year – retrieving critically ill and injured patients within a 150-mile radius of the TMC with helicopters and worldwide using fixed-wing transport.

“Now the entire country will know what the city of Houston has known for decades: we have an extraordinary team here at Memorial Hermann-TMC and the service we provide our community every day is truly unrivaled – working tirelessly to save lives while delivering the highest quality of patient care and the best possible experience for every patient, family and member of the community,” Cordola said.

Life Flight: Trauma Center Houston was created by The Boardwalk Entertainment Group and Executive Produced by Timothy Scott Bogart (Platinum Hit), Gary A. Randall (The Glades) and Brad Bogart (Majors & Minors).

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About Memorial Hermann

An integrated health system, Memorial Hermann is known for world-class clinical expertise, patient-centered care, leading edge technology, and innovation. The system, with its exceptional medical staff and more than 20,000 employees, serves to advance health in Southeast Texas and the Greater Houston community. Memorial Hermann’s 13 hospitals include three hospitals in the Texas Medical Center – the Texas Trauma Institute, a Level I trauma center which houses the Life Flight® air ambulance service; Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital; and TIRR Memorial Hermann, a rehabilitation hospital; eight suburban hospitals, and a second rehabilitation hospital in Katy. The system also operates three Heart & Vascular Institutes, the Mischer Neuroscience Institute, three Ironman Sports Medicine Institute locations, cancer centers, imaging and surgery centers, sports medicine and rehabilitation centers, outpatient laboratories, a chemical dependency treatment center, a home health agency, a retirement community and a nursing home. As an Accountable Care Organization, with a high performing physician network, the system also offers employers health solutions and health benefit plans through Memorial Hermann Health Insurance Company. Learn more about Memorial Hermann.