Efforts at Kansas City, Mo.-based Truman Medical Center to quell violence have been successful thanks to its violence prevention program, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The program is a partnership between Truman and the Kansas City, Mo.-based Aim4Peace Violence Prevention Program. After beginning in 2008, the program has since aided in reducing in the number of homicides in Kansas City by 28 percent between 2010 and 2014.
Through the program, so-called "violence interrupters" are included in trauma teams to suppress retaliatory violence among shooting, stabbing and assault victims and their social circles. The violence interrupters then keep in touch with the victims throughout their hospital stay.
Truman's implementation of the program has impacted other hospitals to do likewise. Three New York City-based hospitals — one of them being Harlem Hospital Center — and Bon Secours Richmond (Va.) Health System have partnered with local activist organizations to combat causes of health, including violence and poverty.