State Announces $750,000 in Grants to Expand Hospital Violence Prevention and Intervention Programs | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:


NCDHHS, DPS and Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center leadership and staff toured and discussed Novant's Violence prevention program. Photo courtesy Novant Health.
    RALEIGH     The North Carolina Governor's Crime Commission announced $750,000 in funding to expand hospital-based violence prevention and intervention programs in North Carolina. Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center was awarded a portion of the funds to support its regional hospital-based violence intervention project and expand its use across its footprint.

    On Wednesday, the NC Department of Public Safety, NC Governor's Crime Commission and the NC Department of Health and Human Services visited Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center to learn about its Wilmington Hospital Violence Prevention Program and held a roundtable discussion about state and community strategies that are working to reduce violence. This collaboration is part of a statewide effort to keep families and communities safe from violence-related injuries and deaths.

    During the visit, state and local leaders learned more about ways Novant Health will also expand the program to include Charlotte with the Governor's Crime Commission funding. The hospital program is part of a community-based violence interruption strategy that includes Wilmington's Port City United which uses a Cure Violence Global model to provide mediation and mentorship in New Hanover County Schools within the community.

    Following the tour, a roundtable discussion included additional community partners and discussed ways the state and local partners can continue to collaborate to address violence in our communities.

    Some additional key efforts in North Carolina to address community violence include:

• Expected receipt of federal funding through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to support more community-based violence prevention and interruption programs similar to Port City United.
• Launch of NC S.A.F.E and distribution of gun locks and safes to community organizations and local health departments.
• Prioritization by the Governor's Crime Commission Victims of Crime Act dollars to fund hospital violence prevention programs like those that support Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center's program.
• Creation of the Governor's Office of Violence Prevention through an Executive Order signed in early 2023.

    This work follows the white paper released by NCDHHS in November 2022 that provides a framework for how to address violence and its causes as public health issues and the July North Carolina Medical Journal which was devoted to the issue.

• NC Department of Health and Human Services
• 2001 Mail Service Center
• Raleigh, NC 27699-2001
• Ph: (919) 855-4840
• news@dhhs.nc.gov