VCU Medical Center is the only Level I Trauma center as well as the primary indigent care provider in central Virginia, receiving greater than 80% of all injuries occurring in the city of Richmond. An average of 4000 patients per year are admitted to the VCU Medical Center secondary to gun shot wounds, stabbings, assaults and motor vehicle crashes. Many of these patients are repeat victims from the same area of Richmond.

The administrators, physicians, nurses and other health care providers at VCU Medical Center are dedicated in assisting the community in addressing this growing problem. Under the direction of Dr. Michel Aboutanos, Injury Prevention Program Director, and Rachel Poindexter, RN, Injury Prevention Program Coordinator of the VCU Medical Center Trauma Program, this program has developed, through a coalition within the institution, to function as a multidisciplinary team in order to actively prevent injury. This injury prevention coalition has been dedicated to reducing as well as preventing injury and violence in our community. With continued research, education, community involvement, and program development, we hope that preventable injury within the Central Virginia region will steadily decline.