Jersey City Medical Center is one of nine New Jersey hospitals that will be receiving additional funding to work with victims of gun violence.
Made available from $10 million in federal American Recovery Plan funds, the money will go to the Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP), designed to directly help gun violence victims and serve to break the cycle of gun violence.
“As a gun violence survivor, I know the importance of the work,” said Pam Johnson, Executive Director of the Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition. “From a personal standpoint and a professional standpoint, I know that with this investment we can save more lives and do more healing.”
In January 2020, the Murphy Administration and the Attorney General’s Office awarded $20 million in federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) dollars to fund nine HVIPs across New Jersey to reach victims of gun violence and others touched by violence at the time of crisis.
According to Governor Phil Murphy and Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, who together announced today’s funding, the programs are considered by experts and practitioners to be one of the crucial strategies for violence intervention and prevention services.
A primary goal of the HVIP is to link hospitals with community-based organizations that are already working to assist victims and prevent the spread of violence.
By partnering with community organizations to provide services to victims and families in hospitals following a shooting, the program has, according to Murphy and Platkin, shown an ability to reduce the cycle of gun violence when retaliation is most likely to occur and spread.
The initial $20 million VOCA investment along with the additional third year of VOCA funding in HVIP grants were awarded to the following hospitals:
- Center for Family Services, City of Camden, Camden Count
- Trinitas Health Foundation, Elizabeth, Union County
- AtlantiCare Atlantic City, Atlantic County
- Capital Health, Trenton, Mercer Count
- Jersey City Medical Center (RWJBarnabas), Jersey City, Hudson County
- Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick (Serving Middlesex, Somerset and Union Counties)
- University Hospital, Newark, Essex County
- Jersey Shore University Medical Center/Hackensack Meridian, Monmouth County (Focusing on Asbury Park, Neptune Township and Long Branch City)
- St. Joseph’s Health, Paterson, Passaic County