North Carolina has been the site of several mass shootings throughout the last several years, and Atrium Health, one of the state's largest health systems, has in turn seen an increase in the number of gunshot victims. Between 2017 and 2021, the health system had a nearly 54 percent increase in gunshot victims treated at its facilities.
That's according to newly released research Atrium Health published taking an inside look at the scope of impact shootings have on hospitals and health system workers.
"A steady increase in gun violence rates over the last decade nationwide is taxing the capacity of trauma centers and requiring the health care systems to increase spending related to treating long-term, adverse outcomes in survivors, including substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, recurrent violent injuries and chronic pain," the report reads.
It's the impetus behind Atrium Health's hospital-based violence intervention program, which aims to engage with communities outside the hospital to promote programs that seek to reduce gun violence, and inside hospitals to advocate for victims, understand their situations and provide them with long-term trauma follow-up plans as needed.
"You have to look at it from a societal standpoint and treat it as a much bigger issue than guns," Britton Christmas, MD, medical director of trauma for Atrium Health, said in a Feb. 8 press statement. "By investing in their communities, hospitals can help to show people the way out of violent lifestyles."
The rise in victims of gun violence is not new. Deaths by gun violence in the U.S. continue to rise, with 2020 seeing the most gun deaths on record. The rampant increase has led major medical organizations including the American Medical Association, National Nurses United and the American Hospital Association to declare gun violence a public health crisis, calling for reform.