For the first time in 27 years, Chicago’s South Side will soon have a Level I adult trauma center, now that University of Chicago Medicine has gained the final stamp of approval from the state.

The program, scheduled to open May 1, will treat people with traumatic injuries, such as from gunshots, vehicle crashes, burns and falls.

For decades, activists had asked the hospital to reinstate trauma services, which ended at what used to be called University of Chicago Hospital in 1988. Since the now-defunct Michael Reese Hospital in Bronzeville closed its adult trauma center in 1991, South Side residents have had to travel by ambulance as far as 10 miles for trauma treatment.

Patients shot more than five miles from a trauma center are more likely to die than those shot closer to trauma centers, according to a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

South Side resident Candace Henley called the trauma program’s opening “a major milestone and victory,” during a call with reporters Monday.

“We’ve been counting down to the launch of the adult trauma center on May 1 for quite a while,” said Henley.

UChicago Medicine has hired 18 new surgeons and specialists to work with trauma patients, said trauma center director Dr. Selwyn Rogers.