(WSBT) When it comes to violent crime, the numbers in South Bend are improving. In September, the city showed a drop in the number of murders, rapes, robberies, and burglaries from 2006 to 2007.

But ask any victim, and they'll tell you it's still a serious problem; and a costly one, too.

Ann Thomas can still count the bullet holes that pierced her front porch on a Sunday afternoon in October. Beneath her clothes, she can also count the scars.

“When I looked down, I saw blood and thought, ‘My God, I’ve been shot,’” she said.

Thomas, a 57-year-old grandmother just home from church, had suddenly found herself at South Bend Memorial Hospital’s trauma center. She was headed for emergency surgery and answering questions from police at her side, the victim of a drive by shooting.

For Ann Thomas, it was the shock of her life. But for doctors and nurses at the hospital, it was another day at work.

Another Day at Work

“We had three shootings the night before last,” remarked Dr. Scott Thomas, Trauma Center Director. “I think anyone who moves to this community as a physician is in for a big surprise as to the amount of violent crime we see in this community.”

Penetrating wounds – primarily gunshot and stab wounds – account for about 19 percent of the most severe trauma patients at the hospital. Thomas compared that to Fort Wayne, where the penetrating trauma rate is just 4 percent in a city twice the size of South Bend.

In 2006, the trauma team saw 59 gunshot victims; 40 of those were deemed “assault wounds.” It was 11 more than the year before. And as exhaustive as the job can be, the cost of treating the victims of violence are just as staggering.

The Cost

It begins on the street. The ambulance ride, with red lights and sirens activated, costs $475 plus $5.47 per mile.

Once inside, treatment often starts in the thousands. One night in the intensive care unit costs $2,630. That doesn’t include surgery which, doctors say, can be in the hundreds of thousands.

Today Ann Thomas is back at home and trying to overcome the shock of her hospital bill. It came to $43,700.35. She’s memorized it to the penny.

“I didn’t need anymore bills,” said Ann Thomas, who suffered no permanent physical damage, but still takes a morphine pill each night for pain.

Fortunately, Thomas has insurance which will pay most of her bill. Doctors say most other victims of violence do not.

“If a patient comes in as a shooting or a stabbing, typically those patients don’t have your typical insurance and we don’t get paid for those cases,” said Dr. Thomas.

Last year, according to hospital statistics, Memorial wrote off more a third of its bills for homicide cases to charity.

“If you’re injured, we’re going to take care of you. That’s our job as a trauma center,” Dr. said Thomas.

But ultimately, officials say, someone has to pay, and it comes in the form of higher insurance premiums for everyone.

The Ultimate Price

Ann Thomas says there’s another cost everyone pays that you can’t put a price on. It’s the cost of violent crime that rips at the seams of a community’s soul.

“People are getting shot and killed for no reason,” said Ann Thomas. “You know it’s there and you just want it to stop.”

To watch the full interview with Ann Thomas, click on the link the Related Content box.

You can also read more about the cost of violence in Friday’s South Bend Tribune.