Leading Healthcare Systems across the Tri-State Area Join National Gun Safety Movement to Address Leading Cause of Death in Kids

--Regional partners join thousands of hospitals and health associations nationwide to encourage families to ask about gun access and safety measures--

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to encourage families and communities to take an active role in protecting children from gun violence, leading healthcare systems across Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey have joined thousands of hospitals and health associations in a nationwide public awareness and education campaign.

The campaign, "It Doesn't Kill to Ask," focuses on providing caregivers, parents, and community members with actionable tools to speak up about safe gun storage and help them feel empowered to ask other parents about access to guns in a home their child might visit.

Gun violence requires a comprehensive approach to prevention and treatment through community education, outreach, and advocacy. A key part of prevention is normalizing conversations about gun storage. The campaign comes at a time when an average of 13 children die from guns every day, making guns the leading cause of death in children.

Through a series of broadcast, print and digital public service messages, along with a website, the campaign will highlight that access to unlocked guns may lead to death, suicide, and gun violence, making it more likely that children will die from guns than cancer or automobile accidents. The website provides tips on how to have a conversation with other parents and families about safely stored firearms and encourages making this conversation as normal as asking about pets or food allergies before a playdate.

Given the prevalence of gun violence across the tri-state area, and in Philadelphia in particular, 13 regional hospitals and health systems are uniting to face this crisis together, as they've done to encourage masking during COVID-19 and other efforts to help protect public health in our communities.  

The campaign is spearheaded by Northwell Health, New York State's largest health system.

For more information, contact:

AtlantiCare: www.AtlantiCare.org
Spokesperson: Lori Herndon, MBA, BSN, RN, President and CEO
Media Contact: Jennifer Tornetta, [email protected]; 609-335-3446

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP): CHOP and Gun Safety
Spokesperson: Joel Fein, MD, MPH, Co-Director of the Center for Violence Prevention
Media Contact: Joey McCool Ryan; [email protected]
(267) 258-6735

ChristianaCare: ChristianaCare.org.
Spokesperson: David D. Chen, MD, MPH, Medical Director for Empowering Victims of Lived Violence (EVOLV), Physician-Scientist, Institute for Research on Equity and Community Health
Media Contact: Request an interview

Jefferson Health: JeffersonHealth.org/PreventViolence
Spokesperson: Elizabeth Datner, MD, FACEP, Chair Emergency Medicine, Einstein Health Network—Jefferson Health Professor of Emergency Medicine, SKMC, Jefferson Health Service Line Lead, Emergency and Hospital Medicine
Media Contact: Damien Woods, [email protected]; 267-324-8823

Main Line Health: mainlinehealth.org
Spokesperson: Jack Lynch III, FACHE, President and CEO
Media Contact: Phil Ellingsworth, Jr, [email protected]; 484-580-1182

Nemours Children's Health
Spokespeople: Kara Odom Walker, MD, MPH, MSHS, Executive Vice President, Chief Population Health Officer, Nemours Children's Health, and Meghan Walls, PsyD, Director, Delaware Valley External Affairs, Nemours Children's Health
Media Contact: Shari Rosen, [email protected]; 302-553-5626

Penn Medicine:  Penn Injury Science Center
Spokesperson: M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology, and Director of the Behavioral Science & Analytics For Injury Reduction (BeSAFIR) Lab
Media Contact: Kelsey Geesler, [email protected], (215) 300-1194 

Prime Healthcare
Spokesperson: Michael A. Rogozinski, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Roxborough Memorial Hospital
Media Contact: Michelle Aliprantis, MBA | Regional Director of Marketing and Communications, PA Region | Roxborough Memorial Hospital | Suburban Community Hospital | Lower Bucks Hospital, [email protected]; T: (215) 785-9817 | C: (610) 348-5726

Redeemer Health
Spokesperson: Kisha Martin, MD, Medical Director, Emergency Department
Media Contact: Richard (Rich) Leonowitz, [email protected]; 267-353-2034

Temple Health: templesafetynet.org
Spokesperson: Scott P. Charles, MAPP, Trauma Outreach Manager, (215)868-4658
Media Contact: Jeremy Walter, [email protected]

Tower Health
Spokesperson: Christopher Valente, MD, Chief, Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Vice Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine
Media Contact: Jessica Bezler, [email protected]; 717-380-4319

Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic
Spokesperson: Burt Blackstone, DO, chair of Trauma at St. Mary Medical Center
Media Contact: Mary Wascavage, [email protected] ; T 610-886-6706­ C 610-662-5789

Virtua Health: virtua.org
Spokesperson: Dennis W. Pullin, President and CEO
Media Contact: Daniel Moise, [email protected]; 610-781-7765

SOURCE Children's Hospital of Philadelphia