RICHMOND, Va. -- Stopping the cycle of violence. That's the aim of a VCU Health program that has been running for the last 20 years. Now the program is expanding across the state of Virginia.
"The dead stay with you. So, that kid never left," Dr. Michael Aboutanos the medical director of VCU Health's Level One Trauma Center, said.
For Dr. Aboutanos, that kid was a 17-year-old in 2003 who had been admitted to the trauma center twice before with gunshot wounds.
Each time being treated and released. "The third time he came back... we could not save him," Aboutanos said.
For the doctor, that one patient was indicative of a larger problem the hospital was seeing, victims of violence coming in for help only to return later with another injury.
"There are a lot of other names, like him, who suffered similar things," Dr. Aboutanos said.
Nationwide, between 20 to 50 percent of people who come in with an injury of violence will be back a second time, he said.
It was the cycle he was determined to break.
"I, at that time, decided that the trauma center must have a different role to play in the community. It must be at the center of the community," Aboutanos said.
That need to break the cycle led to the creation of the "Bridging the Gap" program at VCU.
Through the programs, patients are connected to 'violence consultants' who help them work through their challenges.
"We could put them on a different trajectory, and link them with resources in the community," Aboutanos said.
Since the start of the program, Aboutanos said close to 2,000 patients have been through it and recidivism rates have dropped with the program.
Down to just 3.6% of patients coming back with future injuries.
In addition, program participants also reported reduced alcohol and drug use.
With those results in hand, the doctor is now expanding the program statewide.
The "Bridging the Gap" program is one of six recipients that is receiving a $5 million grant to sustain the work of violence intervention programs in the Commonwealth.
The grant is being distributed by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association Foundation.
"The funding will, in part, allow VCU Health to continue to serve as a technical assistance center, providing training and support for other programs throughout the state..." stated VCU in a press release.
Aboutanos said he hoped the hospitals joining the program will see the same success as VCU and that another 17-year-old won't suffer the same fate as that one two decades ago.
"I will see his face and always see the drive behind that. And I'm thankful to God and thankful to the entire team that we have here that we're doing something about," declared Doctor Aboutanos.
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