Howard University Hospital Honors Survivors As It Expands Trauma Care Beyond The ER

[ad_1] by Daniel Johnson June 16, 2025

Howard College hosted its fifth Annual Victors Over Violence Award Ceremony at Howard College Hospital.

On Could 30, Howard College hosted its fifth Annual Victors Over Violence Award Ceremony at Howard College Hospital, an occasion that honors survivors of traumatic violence in addition to the healthcare groups that assist them, the occasion additionally features as a therapeutic house for the bigger Washington, D.C., neighborhood.

Howard College’s hospital has been designated a Degree I Trauma Middle and treats roughly 40,000 sufferers a 12 months via its emergency division, but it surely additionally holds house for trauma surgeons, nurses, psychological well being advocates, and a violence intervention and prevention unit that gives wraparound care extending from the neighborhood to the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Howard College’s Hospital Trauma Companies’ Annual Victors Over Violence Award Ceremony presents an area for reflection, recognition, and therapeutic for the neighborhood.

Amongst these honored this 12 months was Derrick Scott, who has spent years recovering from the emotional and bodily… pic.twitter.com/SOglpe0pzf

— Howard College (@HowardU) June 14, 2025

In accordance with a press launch from Howard College, among the scars survivors carry don’t ever heal, as one honoree, Derrick Scott, made clear in his remarks on the ceremony. “The ache doesn’t go away—you simply be taught to reside with it,” Scott mentioned. “I misplaced my greatest buddy. Every single day I carry that ache. However I’m nonetheless right here. And I’m nonetheless combating.”

Kenyatta Hazlewood, BSN, MPH, RN, and the operational officer of the Trauma Program who hosts the ceremony, mentioned within the press launch that Scott’s story is central to why the hospital is dedicated to honoring the entire victims of traumatic violence, together with, however not restricted to, gun violence.

“This division is about greater than saving lives—it’s about constructing them again up,” Hazlewood mentioned. “Derrick’s story reminds us why trauma work should embody each the physique and the soul.”

In accordance with Dr. Alexander Evans, though the healthcare staff’s preliminary aim is to deal with the affected person that comes into the hospital, their subsequent aim includes the neighborhood that the affected person belongs to, together with folks like Scott, who could also be coping with survivor’s guilt.

“The primary aim is at all times to save lots of a life,” Evans mentioned within the press launch. “However what comes after—the emotional, psychological, and religious therapeutic—that’s the place the true restoration begins. Each affected person carries their harm in another way. Some want surgical procedures. Some want silence. All of them want assist.”

Scott, in the meantime, opened up concerning the wounds that those that reside carry within them, the injuries that medication and surgical procedures can’t probably hope to heal.

“Not all people walks away from it,” Scott mentioned. “I misplaced my buddy that night time. I give it some thought each day. A few of us are nonetheless in it. A few of us try to run from it. However one of the best ways via is to face it, to speak about it, and to seek out individuals who received’t allow you to surrender.”

Along with Scott, the hospital additionally honored 22-year-old Rayne Bradshaw, who was paralyzed as the results of a mass capturing. Bradshaw was not in a position to attend the ceremony, however the workers, like Hazlewood, praised her braveness and her progress as she undergoes remedy to get well bodily.

In accordance with Dr. Roger A. Mitchell, the president of Howard College Hospital, Scott’s story emphasizes the necessity for traumatic violence to be seen and handled as a public well being disaster.

“Once we discuss trauma, we’re not simply speaking about gunshot wounds or automotive accidents—we’re speaking concerning the persistent, layered impression of violence on complete communities. Meaning exhibiting up for survivors not solely after they arrive in disaster, however lengthy after they’ve been discharged.”

He concluded, “Therapeutic doesn’t occur in a single surgical procedure. It’s a course of, and it requires neighborhood. Occasions like this luncheon remind us that the folks we look after are greater than circumstances. If you see somebody like Derrick come again stronger, it’s a reminder of the impression we will have when trauma care is steady, compassionate, and community-based.”