Honoring Dr. Basil Pruitt

We regret to announce that Dr. Basil Pruitt, a founding member of the American Trauma Society (ATS) and friend and fierce advocate of trauma care, died last week, on March 17, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Pruitt served continuously on the ATS Board of Directors for the past 50 years and applied his wisdom to assure that the strongest policy decisions were made on behalf of our members and, most importantly, on behalf of our patients for which our trauma centers and systems care. 

Dr. Pruitt’s impact was felt locally, nationally, and internationally in the disciplines of trauma  surgery, burn care, and critical care. Dr. Pruitt also served his nation and impacted trauma care in the military sector as a member of the US Army Medical Corps, until his retirement in 1995 when he was appointed to the faculty at UT Health in San Antonio as a Professor of Surgery and held the Dr. Ferdinand P. Herff Chair in Surgery. His accomplishments are many, as are his friendships and those that he mentored along the way.

Our society has had the privilege of the dedication and leadership of this accomplished icon of American Surgery. We will miss you, Dr. Pruitt.

Respectfully,