Dr. Rochelle Dicker, a trauma surgeon at San Francisco General Hospital, has seen the faces of gunshot victims she's previously treated back on the operating table one too many times. Nearly 40% of patients admitted to the trauma center for violent injuries have been injured before.

"People keep coming back re-injured," Dicker said. "It’s like the recurrence of a cancer."

Dicker's search to find a cure that would help break the cycle of violence led her to review data from the SFVIRS. She was able to pinpoint which neighborhoods were hot spots for violence and to gain a richer understanding of some of the risk factors and circumstances that contribute to stabbings and firearm-related injury.

The doctor then used the information to develop the Wraparound Project, a new intervention program that targets San Francisco residents who are at risk for repeated violent injury. Through culturally competent case management, the program links patients with community-based organizations and social services that provide GED and vocational training, employment opportunities, anger management, court advocacy, and drug counseling -- a network of life skills designed to reduce the risk of re-injury by providing mentorship and viable opportunities. Dicker has recruited three Case Managers who knows what life is like in the most-affected neighborhoods first-hand.

”The Case Managers are the crux of this program. They can create an instant bond with our clients in the hospital, when the clients are healing from injury and open to change and opportunities,” said Dr. Dicker.

Thus far, the program has been able to provide risk reduction resources through the vast network in the City and the community. Only two of the clients have been re-injured thus far and there is hope that this success will continue and that the program can serve as a model for other Trauma Centers. The Project is currently financially supported by the City of San Francisco.