Why Hospitals are Focused on Reducing Gun Violence

HAP’s Southeast Connect to address ‘unrelenting epidemic’ of gun violence

October 06, 2022

Addressing gun violence is an “unrelenting clinical, public health, societal, and political” concern, requiring decisive action across health care.

A recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) focused on gun violence and its threat to communities. The publication highlights the growing threat of gun violence and the necessary urgency to address it.

“The morbidity and mortality attributed to firearms have continued to increase; have adversely and profoundly affected individuals, families, and communities; and have exceedingly important consequences for all of society,” the journal’s lead editors note in an opening essay.

More than 45,000 firearms deaths occurred during 2020, the highest rate since 1994, according to the CDC. Among the topics discussed in the ­JAMA issue:

• The role of academic medical centers in preventing violence and firearm-related deaths
• Approaches to prevention
• A call for real-time data to better understand firearm injuries
• The results of state legislative efforts to reduce firearm violence
• Developing a national approach for firearm prevention

Pennsylvania hospitals continue to focus on initiatives to address this public health crisis in their communities.

During HAP’s Southeast Connect next month, hospital leaders will come together to discuss preventing gun violence and the hospital-based intervention programs that can make a difference.

The event will include a panel of perspectives from Pennsylvania hospital leaders, as well as a keynote from Chethan Sathya, MD, MSc, a pediatric trauma surgeon and National Institutes of Health-funded firearm injury prevention researcher. The event will explore the effects of trauma and gun violence, and the steps hospitals can take to support their patients and communities.

Learn more about the event and register online.

For more information, contact Daneen Schroder, HAP’s vice president, business development and member services.