Jorie Klein, MSN, MHA, BSN, RN, is the Director of the Texas Department of State Health Services’ EMS - Trauma Systems Section. In this capacity she is responsible for the oversight of EMS personnel, EMS providers, and First Responder Organizations in collaboration with the Director of EMS. In addition, she and her team are responsible for the facility designation process which currently includes approximately 300 trauma centers, 190 stroke facilities, as well as approximately 200 neonatal and maternal centers. She has oversight of the contracts and funding distribution specific to her section. This includes the system funding for the regional advisory councils, EMS providers, and trauma uncompensated care. She is responsible for the Medical Advisory Board which reviews cases referred by the Department of Public Safety regarding an individual’s ability to safely drive a vehicle or safe storage of a handgun. She and her team are responsible for the Texas Administrate Codes or rules that govern EMS professionals, designation programs, funding, and the twenty-two regional advisory councils.

Prior to this role, Ms. Klein was the senior director of nursing for the Parkland Memorial Hospital’s trauma program, emergency department, and urgent care center. She is a past member of the Governor’s EMS, Trauma Advisory Council and the Trauma System Committee. She is a past chair and board member of the North Central Texas Trauma Advisory Council. She is a past president of the Society of Trauma Nurses (STN). She is a current member of the STN Trauma Outcomes Performance Improvement Committee. She is a past appointed trauma program liaison member to the American College of Surgeons Committee’s Trauma’s Performance Improvement and Patient Safety Committee. In addition, she is an instructor for the Disaster Management Emergency Preparedness Course sponsored by the American College of Surgeons, and the TOPIC Course and Rural TOPIC Course sponsored by the Society of Trauma Nurses.