East Bay trauma centers see 180% increase in gun injuries compared to pre-pandemic years

OAKLAND, Calif. - Gunfire has taken a toll nationwide over the past Fourth of July holiday week. From mass shootings in Baltimore and Philadelphia, to a shooting in Hayward in the Bay Area, the terror and trauma have many Americans calling again for action.

"It's a public health issue. We've had gun violence everywhere even at my work," said Jordan Coleman, an Oakland resident.

"You can hear the shots sometimes," said Juan Aceves, who says his family moved to a downtown Oakland home last year, "It has been progressively worse, violence...now the gunshots here. We live in an apartment where it happened."

Now, a group of more than 50 Congress members are calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a formal report on gun violence, similar to a report issued in 1965 addressing smoking and public health.

The letter to Secretary Xavier Beccerra and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last week, led by Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Senator Cory Booker said gun violence has become a public health crisis that needs to be addressed as an epidemic. Bay Area Representatives Mark DeSaulnier, Zoe Lofgren, Kevin Mullin, Eric Swalwell, and Mike Thompson also signed the letter.

"The reality is we are seeing an unprecedented increase in the amount of violent activity and the repercussions on the community we serve," said James Jackson, CEO of Alameda Health System, which includes the level one trauma center at Wilma Chan Highland Hospital in Oakland.

Jackson says their trauma units have seen a huge spike in the number of gun injuries.

In 2019, there were 283 gun-related injuries, but following the pandemic they've seen an alarming increase of more than 500 gun injuries a year with 547 in 2021 and 502 in 2022. So far, in 2023 they've had 247 victims hurt by gun injuries through July 6th.

"What we see is not only is there the immediate violence to the individual, but there is the repercussions of the violence that impact our community," said Jackson, "They're sons, they're daughters, they're mothers, they're fathers. And so it's important to me and to this organization to treat them as humans to treat them as individuals and never reduce them to just statistics." 

In 2021, according to the CDC's most recent data available, more than 48,830 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S.

Jackson says, as a public health problem, it's important for health care providers, social workers, law enforcement and the whole community to work together on solutions.

"I grew up here. This is my community. It's more than a job and I feel it's incumbent on myself and others to try and find ways to stem the tide," said Jackson.

The California Medical Association is also calling for the Surgeon General to issue a report.