WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and the City of Winston-Salem are rolling out a new hospital violence prevention program to stop violent acts in the community before they start.

“As a community, we’re at a point where enough is enough and we need to do something different,” said Dr. Yazmin Gay, an assistant professor of trauma surgery with Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Dr. Gay is one of three doctors leading the program. They’ve been searching for a way to streamline help to trauma victims. It became very apparent they needed to act as the number of gunshot wound victims and stabbing victims ending up in the Atrium emergency department increased.

“We’ve been doing things in a fragmented way and it’s not working,” said Dr. Martin Avery. Avery is also an assistant professor of surgery and works as a trauma surgeon.

This year, the hospital has treated 29 stabbing victims and 194 gunshot victims, 20 more than the same time last year.

“You can see the spectrum of that injury on the patient, the patient’s family and the health care workers taking care of it, so it just compounds daily, weekly and annually just to see the burden is getting worse,” said Dr. Avery.

The team has a hotspot map of where violent crimes occur most often. If a patient is on their way from one of those areas, a doctor will notify a counselor to be there and start the intervention process.

The counselor meets the trauma victim, their family or support system at their bedside and asks a simple question.

“Do you feel your injury will result in retaliation?” said Dr. Gay.

If the answer is yes, they reach out to other community groups and violence intervention specialists on the ground and alert them so they can diffuse further violence.

They also have their eyes on patients between the ages of 16 to 45, but say they’ll intervene and help anyone they see who could be a victim.

“An individual I believe we had last week was 10 years old. We did go and provide services,” said Dr. Gay. “We don’t exclude individuals from different counties or states because we’ve had three different individuals from Virginia and Georgia.”

After a person leaves the hospital, a case navigator follows up with them. They make sure these victims have the resources they need when they get home to heal and move forward in the right direction.

“You’re going through the stages of grief and anger is one of those stages, but at the same time as a community that healing process will start with the community and end with the community,” said Dr. Gay.

The city of Winston-Salem is funding the $500,000 three-year pilot program through ARPA funds.

Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney shared with FOX8 the partnership was launched at a critical time when the city is seeing an increase in people who do not call 911 for gun violence and other gun-related crimes. She says the program is another effort to include alternative responses from policing and to cut down on retaliation.

“Building rapport is everything, if they don’t trust the process they’re more likely to not talk about what happens,” said Dr. Gay. “The case navigators will be able to build up those relationships they need.”

Atrium Health Charlotte and Duke Hospital have similar programs.

Toney says at the end of the three-year period city leaders will assess the success the program.