MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Increasing concerns in Charlotte about the rise in gun violence brought Mecklenburg County leaders and health experts together to discuss the long-term impacts on the community.
Mecklenburg County hosted the discussion Wednesday to explain their approach to how gun violence creates trauma long after doctors and nurses have treated a patient.
Gun violence and its effects were also the topics in a panel of grassroots efforts from community members who are on the ground every day.
Atrium found that hospitalizations of gunshot victims in North Carolina are above the national average and they've continued to go up over the last five years. To combat what they're seeing in the ER, the health provider started a violence prevention program with the city of Charlotte that matches patients with critical resources where violence can stem from.
"We need to support people who are needing access to critical necessities like food and housing," Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley said. "Everything else like that creates a breeding ground for traumatic events."
The hope is that more low-cost intervention methods can take hold in hospitals, churches, and community centers across Charlotte to address the issues that are starting points for violence.
"We need hospital-based intervention programs, community-based programs that will help channel into medicine and medication," Kinsley added. "We need to make things more productive."
The discussion will continue on how to best match patients to needs and resources within the community. It is an issue that does not just stay inside the hospital walls or at a cordoned-off crime scene.
Atrium Health released a report entitled “A Public Health Approach to Addressing Gun Violence,” which reviews the short- and long-term effects of gun violence on the physical and mental health of patients, physicians and caregivers, as well as the financial impact on both patients and health systems
Contact Colin Mayfield at cmayfield@wcnc.com or follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story said Atrium Health hosted the event. The story has now been corrected to reflect it was hosted by Mecklenburg County.