Gun violence is one of the great public health challenges of our time. The overwhelming majority of Americans – including gun owners – want some common-sense action by Congress on gun safety to help stem the carnage that claimed the lives of more than 43,000 Americans last year. To put that statistic in perspective, last year more people died by guns than in automobile accidents. Every year, more people are killed by guns than from HIV, malnutrition, Parkinson's disease, and high blood pressure. Yet despite these grim statistics and voter support, Congress has not taken any meaningful actions to help stem the tide.
Complicating matters is the uptick of gun sales during the pandemic. It is estimated that around 22.8 million guns were sold in 2020 alone, with no sign of this record-breaking volume easing up in 2021. Amidst a flurry of mass shootings, ghost guns, and blood on the streets in most American cities, health officials like Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling are worried that this situation is spiraling out of control.
“This is not just about guns,” said Dowling in a recent Big Think interview. “This is a serious public health issue, and we have to start looking at it that way.”
The move by Northwell and dozens of other health care systems across the country to present gun violence as a public health issue reflects a larger transition by the industry toward preventive health care.
“Health is a lot more than the absence of illness,” says CEO Dowling, “and promoting health is a lot more than dealing with medical care. We need to be much more holistic in our approach and gun violence prevention is part of it.”
Much like car accidents and cardiac arrests, the effects of gun violence are seen by healthcare professions every day. It’s not just gunshot wounds: it’s the mental health issues, trauma, and effects of domestic violence on children and communities that make this such an important issue for Dowling, who chronicled the violence in his own home in his recent memoir After the Roof Caved In. To look at gun violence in any other way than a public health and safety issue belies the commitment health care systems like Northwell have made to improve health outcomes in the populations they serve. It’s why Dowling, 17 other healthcare CEOs, and 1,300 caregivers are imploring Congress to support President Biden's gun violence plan.
This plan is not about banning guns, Dowling stresses.
“I have nothing against guns,” says Dowling, “I’m against the unnecessary ill effects of guns.”
Instead, the first call to action by Dowling and Northwell’s Center for Gun Violence Prevention is directed at raising public awareness.
“If we continue messaging about gun violence’s social effects, over and over and over again, we will make a difference,” says Dowling.
“I think in the healthcare industry we have a unique opportunity to approach firearm injury prevention through an apolitical harm reduction, injury prevention campaign,” said Dr. Sathya on the same episode of 20-Minute Health Talk. “We’ve done it with other stigmatized issues like HIV, substance use, and even tobacco. There was a time when it was taboo to ask questions of patients related to smoking. There’s a lot we can do as health care professionals if we approach [gun safety] from that lane, focused on safety and injury prevention.”
It’s time for our healthcare providers and our elected representatives to treat gun violence prevention as a public health initiative. Through prevention, education, and collaboration between local agencies, health care providers can make a difference in our own communities. But we also need to advocate for sensible gun control laws. Northwell’s Gun Violence Prevention Forum, a virtual event being held December 15, will focus on mobilizing collective efforts within the healthcare industry.
Hosted by Dowling, this year’s event will feature key discussions on Public Policy, Advocacy and the Role of Government, Gun Violence Prevention in Communities of Color, Corporate America and Finding a Middle Ground, and How Healthcare Systems Can Partner to Drive Results, among other topics. The goal is clear: to enact systemic change around guns. But we need your voice to help. Register for the Gun Violence Prevention Forum here and help stem the destruction caused by gun violence.
You can also join the 1,400 other healthcare professionals in calling on Congress to invest $5 billion in hospital- and community-based violence intervention programs. The power of the healthcare community’s collective voice can and will make a difference in the fight to include this critical funding in the budget this year.
Stay involved by joining the Gun Violence Prevention Learning Collaborative for Hospitals and Health Systems. The Learning Collaborative aims to mobilize the healthcare industry to prevent firearm injury and mortality. You can join the Learning Collaborative here. Those who sign up will also receive an invitation to join a listserv to stay updated on other health care initiatives on gun violence prevention.
Email the attached letter to your member of Congress. You can find your Senator here and your Representative here, and the proper email addresses can be found on their respective websites.
Tweet at your representative asking for their support. Sample language for a tweet is below:
1,400+ health professionals across the country are calling Congress to invest $5B in hospital and community based violence intervention programs. @[insert your representative’s handle], will you commit to supporting this investment? https://tinyurl.com/4bsex7tb
Dowling and other progressive health care reformers liken the current epidemic of gun deaths to the past controversy surrounding seat belts in cars. It seems bizarre to think about now, but when Ralph Nader published Unsafe at Any Speed, his groundbreaking book about the epidemic of automobile deaths and how seatbelts would help, many Americans went to war against seat belt laws. Industry insiders said there was no way car makers could afford to install seat belts in cars, and even if they did, consumers didn’t want the government telling them what to do in their own cars. Hindsight is, of course, 20/20. Since the implementation of seat belt laws, the NHTSA estimates that seat belts have saved 374,196 lives.
For Dowling, firearm safety regulations fall into the same category as automobile safety.
“We didn’t ban cars,” he explains. “We figured out a way to make them safe.”
Treating gun violence as a public health issue is a critical transition that could make way for swift action. Sadly, it won’t be enough to heal Fred Guttenberg’s broken heart. His 14-year-old daughter, Jamie, was killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Since then, Guttenberg has devoted his life to gun violence prevention and firearm safety, teaming up with Northwell’s Center for Gun Violence Prevention (CGVP), to press elected officials to act.
“When Jamie was killed, I lost the ability to be in awe of people who are supposedly doing the work of government,” Guttenberg said on a recent episode of Northwell’s 20-Minute Health Talk podcast, where he was joined by the director of the CGVP, Dr. Chethan Sathya, MD to discuss their shared mission of mobilizing the health care industry around this public health issue. “The people in Washington are not ‘higher ups.’ They are meant to represent us and react to what we want.”
Gun Violence Prevention
Gun Violence Is a Public Health Issue, Say a Growing Number of Experts
“This is not just about guns, this is a serious public health issue, and we have to start looking at it that way.”
“If we continue messaging about gun violence’s
social effects, over and over and over again, we will
make a difference.”
Here’s what you can do right now:
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A commitment to heart health is something no one should take lightly, especially after a year where staying healthy has never been so important. Luckily, institutions like Northwell are putting in the time and resources necessary to improve the lives of the population they serve. Dowling would say it’s a commitment that starts from the top. If you want to learn more about Dowling’s fascinating poverty-to-success story, his struggles and triumphs, and why he cares so much about the mental health of others, pick up a copy of After the Roof Caved In wherever books are sold.
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Northwell Health Has Been Awarded a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For®
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The success of Northwell’s integrated system can be seen throughout it's network.
CONTINUED LEARNING
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“At Northwell, we’re focused on wellness and prevention, not just treating people when they’re ill. We spend a lot of time on lifestyle and behavior. We have to be proactive.”
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A commitment to heart health is something no one should take lightly, especially after a year where staying healthy has never been so important. Luckily, institutions like Northwell are putting in the time and resources necessary to improve the lives of the population they serve. Dowling would say it’s a commitment that starts from the top. If you want to learn more about Dowling’s fascinating poverty-to-success story, his struggles and triumphs, and why he cares so much about the mental health of others, pick up a copy of After the Roof Caved In wherever books are sold.
Read More in "After the Roof Caved In"
VIEW BOOK ONLINE
Visit Home Page
“This is not just about guns, this is a serious public health issue, and we have to start looking at it that way.”