Hospitals, sheriffs and prosecutors, and their different approaches to gun violence

Prosecutors and sheriffs in several Virginia counties are pledging not to enforce a new assault weapon ban set to go into effect on July 1.

On the other side of the gun violence spectrum, we have the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association highlighting the work in the healthcare sector to provide trauma-informed care and an array of personalized support services to individuals who have been impacted by violence through a vehicle called Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs.

Advantage: the hospitals, by a country mile.

“Community and domestic violence resulting in serious injury and hospitalization is too common an occurrence in our society. These injuries can leave lasting physical and emotional scars for the people, families, and communities impacted by them. That’s why the interventional work done by HVIPs and their teams is so critical,” said Kelly Cannon, CEO of the VHHA Foundation.

This month, the nation will recognize Gun Violence Awareness Day and Hospitals Against Violence Day as times to honor survivors of gun violence and to highlight ongoing efforts to combat community and healthcare workplace violence.

With respect to HVIPs, those programs in Virginia hospitals have served 9,925 patients since 2019, according to data from VHHA.

Individuals who have been engaged in an HVIP program have an estimated re-injury rate of less than 3 percent. In contrast, the national re-injury rate average for individuals impacted by community violence is 40 percent.

Beyond that dramatic re-injury rate reduction, Virginia HVIPs have yielded $101.8 million in healthcare cost avoidance while serving a patient population that is 60 percent Medicaid and 20 percent uninsured.

“The data is clear: HVIPs in Virginia make a tremendous difference in supporting safer communities and delivering life-saving care and services to patients,” Cannon said.

Virginia now has 12 HVIPs at 10 health systems serving communities across the Commonwealth, including, locally, at the UVA Health University Medical Center.

Speaking of locally, I’m still trying to get word from Tim Martin, the Augusta County Commonwealth’s Attorney, and Donald Smith, the Augusta County sheriff, on their plans regarding the assault weapons ban.

Both Martin and Smith are Republicans – Martin more of the libertarian streak, Smith trending more each year toward the MAGA side.

More than a dozen Commonwealth’s attorneys and sheriffs in conservative counties have gone public to say that they do not plan to enforce the new assault weapons ban.

I’ve tried twice to get Martin and Smith to indicate one way or the other what they plan to do, with no responses at this writing.

I know that they’re getting pressure to join their conservative brethren, and it won’t surprise me to see them decide to sign on to the nullification movement.

Meantime, I should probably also reach out to Augusta Health about this HVIP initiative, to see if our local hospital might see the wisdom of doing something like that here.