Richmond, Va. — When Henrico Doctors’ Hospital became a state-designated Level II Trauma Center in 2016, its mission was clear: provide advanced, lifesaving trauma care close to home for patients across Henrico County, Richmond and the surrounding region.
Ten years later, Stacy Burgdrof is one of the many patients whose life was changed by that mission.
Burgdrof has no memory of the accident that nearly took her life. The last thing she remembers is the sound of a tree limb cracking.
She had been doing landscaping work when a falling limb struck her on the head. She was standing near the base of the tree when it came down.
“I woke up about two weeks later in the critical care unit,” she said. “My head was cold, and I touched my head and my hair was gone.”
By the time Burgdrof woke up, the trauma team at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital had already delivered the emergency care that helped save her life. She underwent brain surgery soon after arriving at the hospital. She also needed facial reconstruction after sustaining extensive facial injuries, including severe trauma to her nose. Her care included a tracheostomy, a feeding tube and multiple blood transfusions.
Her injuries were severe. The emotional shock came later.
When Burgdrof first saw herself in the mirror, she barely recognized the person looking back.
But even then, her determination was unmistakable. After waking up, Burgdrof wanted to get out of bed. Hospital staff told her she could try taking a few steps. Instead, she walked laps around the intensive care unit. Within hours, she was moved to a regular hospital room.
Soon after, she was transferred to rehabilitation, where she was told some patients stay for months. When she asked about the quickest discharge anyone had managed, she was told four weeks.
Burgdrof was discharged in four days.
“I wanted to get on with my life,” she said. “I wanted to get home to my kids.”
As Henrico Doctors’ Hospital Trauma Center marks its 10th anniversary, Burgdrof’s story reflects the purpose behind a decade of trauma care: giving patients the chance not only to survive, but to return to the people and moments that matter most.
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital is the highest-level trauma center in Henrico County and the only trauma center north of the James River in Richmond. In 2025 alone, the trauma center provided care for more than 2,000 trauma patients. The hospital is a state-designated trauma center through the Virginia Office of EMS and an American College of Surgeons Level II Verified Trauma Center.
That level of care requires far more than one moment of emergency response. It depends on a coordinated trauma program that includes trauma surgeons, emergency physicians, critical care teams, nurses, rehabilitation specialists, trauma program leaders, performance improvement coordinators, educators, registrars and injury prevention professionals working together from the moment a patient arrives through recovery and beyond.
For Burgdrof, that team made it possible to return to a full life.
At the time of the accident, she had five children, including a youngest child who was about 13. Since then, she has seen three grandchildren born, with another on the way. She also became the primary caregiver for her father, who later developed dementia.
“If it wasn’t for all the doctors and everything they did, I may not have been there for them,” she said. “I was privileged to be able to take care of my father. I’ve been privileged to see the birth of three of my grandchildren so far.”
The trauma center’s anniversary is also a reminder that trauma care extends beyond the hospital walls. Through injury prevention and outreach, Henrico Doctors’ Hospital focuses on some of the leading causes of traumatic injury, including falls, motor vehicle collisions and pedestrians or cyclists struck by vehicles. The program also offers evidence-based fall prevention and motor vehicle safety education, monthly Stop the Bleed training and partnerships with local EMS agencies and Henrico County.
For patients like Burgdrof, however, the impact is deeply personal.
She remembers the trauma team not only for the medical care, but for the compassion she felt throughout her recovery.
“They were attentive. They were compassionate. They were sympathetic. They were encouraging,” she said. “For me to have come through that as well as I did as quickly as I did just shows that these people have their heart in what they're doing and they are fulfilling their purpose.”
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its trauma center on June 8 from 3 to 4 p.m. For the hospital, the milestone represents 10 years of building trauma services for a growing region. For Burgdrof, it represents the years she was given back with her children, grandchildren and family.
“Just being here is a blessing,” she said.