Reducing Violence in the Community with Healing That Goes Beyond Our Hospitals.

“What you’re going through right now does not define who you're going to be later in life.”

Anthony Carter, a responder with the MedStar Health Hospital Responder Program, shares these powerful words with patients entering the Emergency Department following a violent incident, such as an assault or gun violence, at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital, MedStar Harbor Hospital and MedStar Union Memorial Hospital.

While physicians and nurses urgently treat the immediate physical wounds, responders focus on treating the emotional wounds that follow for weeks and months. The trauma of violent crime is also known to extend to the victim’s family and neighbors, creating a need for emotional healing within the community.

“The goal of our Hospital Responder Program is to help reduce community violence—a major public health issue—by providing interventions and using innovative approaches to promote healing and recovery while advocating and providing mediation,” explains Samantha Sailsman, regional program manager, Community Health, who directs the initiative. 

“Our work helps those impacted by traumatic incidences feel secure and find the resources needed to live in a safer, healthier community.”

Even with the most caring and comforting healthcare provider, a provider-patient dynamic can limit communication and connection. Hospital responders like Anthony are often individuals from the same communities as the people they serve. Their shared experiences build trust and a rapport that helps patients feel comfortable participating in the program.

“Responders typically have experienced violence in their past,” Samantha says. “They are now in a space where they learned from that experience. They use it to mentor and help others to improve, as well as model positive behaviors.”

When patients join the program, they become clients. Hospital responders then build trusted relationships and can coordinate community mediation. Importantly, they also educate clients by providing relevant resources addressing known factors that can lead to violence. Clients connect with MedStar Health programs and nonprofit organizations that address addiction, mental health, general health, food insecurity, lack of housing, limited transportation, and other factors that can stem from socioeconomic instability.

“The definition of poverty is a lack of resources,” says Kenneth Robinson, a violence prevention coordinator with Safe Streets, a close community partner of the MedStar Health Hospital Responder Program.

“I’m the bridge to these resources,” Anthony says. He inspires patients through action, extending himself to make phone calls or develop or submit requests for assistance. He never wants to give up.

“I tell them, ‘You know where I’ve come from. It’s the same background you’re coming from. You’ve seen my transition, and if I can do it, you can too.’”