Healing doesn’t end at discharge: How University Medical Center New Orleans helps gunshot survivors stay safe and move forward

 If you’ve sustained a gunshot injury in Orleans Parish, support is available at no cost 

A gunshot wound can change everything in an instant. In the Emergency Department, the immediate priority is clear: move quickly, stabilize the patient, and treat life-threatening injuries. 

For survivors and families, the crisis doesn’t end when the initial treatment is finished. National research shows that people who survive violent injuries face a significantly higher risk of reinjury or death in the months that follow, especially when they return to the same environments and pressures that shaped the first incident. 

At University Medical Center New Orleans, a part of LCMC Health, the Violence Intervention Program exists for that next part of the story. It helps survivors of gun violence and their loved ones navigate emotional shock, safety concerns, and practical barriers that can make recovery harder once someone goes home. 

A public health response to a complex issue 

The University Medical Center’s trauma teams treat nearly 1,000 gunshot wounds and other penetrating injuries each year, representing about 20% of all trauma cases, compared to 8-10% at most trauma centers nationwide. 

For years, clinicians and community partners recognized that treating the physical injury is only one part of recovery, and that additional support is often needed after a patient leaves the hospital. 

The hospital is also a unique point of access. In many community-based prevention efforts, it can be difficult to reach the individuals most impacted by violence. In the hospital, that dynamic shifts. Survivors and families are already there, focused on safety and often open to support in a way that may not be possible later. 

The program is embedded within Seeds of NOLA Trauma Recovery Center at University Medical Center. This structure reinforces a core belief: recovery is not only physical. It includes psychological healing, safety planning, and a long-term path toward stability. 

Two phases, one coordinated approach 

The Violence Intervention Program is intentionally designed in two phases that work together. 

Phase 1: Support in the hospital during the most intense moments 

When a gunshot wound patient is en route to the Norman E. McSwain, Jr., MD, Spirit of Charity Trauma Center, a Level 1 Trauma Center, the violence intervention team is activated. Violence Interrupters are based in the Emergency Department and respond in real time as families arrive. They help families understand what is happening and serve as a steady emotional presence while the medical team focuses on emergency care. 

If the patient stabilizes, the team engages the survivor directly. If the patient does not survive, they support families during the most difficult conversations. 

They also begin safety planning before discharge in a very real, practical way. Survivors and families may be thinking about retaliation, the possibility of crossing paths with the person who caused the harm, or whether it is even safe to return home. The violence intervention team helps them talk through those immediate risks and identify concrete steps that can reduce danger before they leave the hospital. 

A critical part of the model is trust. Team members are recruited from the community and selected for credibility and their ability to connect with those most impacted by violence. University Medical Center further invests in training them in trauma-informed practices and tools. 

The program operates as part of the healthcare team and under HIPAA privacy protections. That confidentiality helps build trust in a city where personal connections run deep. It also strengthens care in the moment. Families may share fears, pressures, or safety concerns with a trusted advocate that they might hesitate to raise with a clinical team. That insight can clarify risk and help clinicians tailor care more effectively. 

For Annelies DeWulf, MD, Director of Emergency Services and lead of the Violence Intervention Program at University Medical Center New Orleans, the model brings clinical care and prevention together in a seamless, coordinated way.  

“The strength of this program lies in its multidisciplinary design and its full integration into our trauma system,” said Dr. DeWulf, who also serves as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans. “From the moment a patient arrives, trauma surgeons, emergency physicians, nurses, the violence intervention team, and trauma recovery specialists are working together. We are not just stabilizing injuries. We are thinking about safety, emotional healing, and risk reduction as part of the care plan. That coordination truly changes what trauma care can look like.” 

Phase 2: Long-term support through the Trauma Recovery Center 

After discharge, many survivors do not want to return to the hospital or may struggle with transportation, work schedules, childcare, or other basic needs. These realities can pull people away from care, even when support is needed most, and that drop-off is common in violence recovery work nationwide. 

That is why the program focuses on early follow-up and barrier reduction. Soon after discharge, the violence intervention team reaches out to identify what might prevent a survivor from returning and works to remove those obstacles before they become barriers to care. 

Violence Intervention Specialists based in the Trauma Recovery Center clinic build on survivors’ strengths and provide longer-term case management to help survivors set and achieve goals that support a stable, safe and satisfying life. They coordinate closely with trauma recovery staff and trauma psychology services, so patients can easily receive support from both programs. This coordination matters because untreated post-traumatic stress symptoms can shape behavior, decision-making, and risk over time. 

University Medical Center’s trauma psychology team works to connect patients with appropriate services during hospitalization. For patients who are not ready to engage during their inpatient stay, trauma recovery services remain available through the trauma clinic, helping survivors reconnect with support even after they have returned home. 

A different philosophy of trauma care 

Alison Smith, MD, PhD, FACS, a trauma surgeon and Trauma Medical Director of the Norman E. McSwain, Jr., MD, Spirit of Charity Trauma Center and Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at LSU Health New Orleans, views the Violence Intervention Program as a fundamental shift in how trauma is understood in healthcare. 

“Trauma has historically been treated as a single event that we fix in the operating room and then discharge the patient,” Dr. Smith said. “But gun violence is much more complicated than that traditional viewpoint. If we treat the injury and ignore the risk factors that led to this event, we are missing a critical part of the big picture. This program is about prevention, mitigation of secondary harm, and recognizing that our responsibility does not end when the wound is closed.” 

The program does not operate alone. The team works closely with community partners, including Ubuntu Village and its Peace Ambassador Program, to ensure survivors have options for peer mentorship, in-home support, and conflict mediation that complement the hospital’s clinical resources. 

The program also collaborates with the Office of Violence Prevention within the New Orleans Health Department and other advocacy and crisis response organizations. Together, these partners form a coordinated network focused on one goal: helping survivors heal, reduce risk, and move toward a safer path. 

In a city that understands the weight of gun violence, this program represents a deliberate shift from reactive trauma care to proactive prevention. 

If you or a family member has been shot in Orleans Parish, you are eligible for free support services through University Medical Center’s Violence Intervention Program. Contact us at 504.702.4335 or ask a member of your care team to connect you.