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 homes their children 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, including Philadelphia specifically, 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: AtlantiCare.org

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP): CHOP.edu

  • CHOP and Gun Safety Spokesperson: Joel Fein, MD, MPH, Co-Director of the Center for Violence Prevention
  • Media Contact: Joey McCool Ryan, email: McCool@chop.edu; phone: 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

  • 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: damien.woods@Jefferson.edu; phone: 267-324-8823

Main Line Health: mainlinehealth.org

Nemours Children’s Health: nemours.org

  • 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: shari.rosen@nemours.org; phone: 302-553-5626

Penn Medicine: Penn Injury Science Center: penninjuryscience.org

  • 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: Kelsey.Geesler@pennmedicine.upenn.edu, phone: 215-300-1194 

Prime Healthcare: primehealthcare.com

  • 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: MAliprantis@primehealthcare.com; phone: 215-785-9817

Redeemer Health: redeemerhealth.org

Temple Health: templesafetynet.org

Tower Health: towerhealth.org

  • Spokesperson: Christopher Valente, MD, Chief, Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Vice Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine
  • Media Contact: Jessica Bezler, email: jessica.bezler@towerhealth.org; phone: 717-380-4319

Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic: trinityhealthma.org

Virtua Health: virtua.org

 

About Tower Health 

Tower Health is a regional integrated healthcare system that offers compassionate, high quality, leading edge healthcare and wellness services to communities in Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties. With approximately 11,500 employees, Tower Health consists of Reading Hospital in West Reading; Phoenixville Hospital in Phoenixville; Pottstown Hospital in Pottstown; and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, in partnership with Drexel University.  Tower Health is strongly committed to academic medicine and training, including multiple residency and fellowship programs, the Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health, and the Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences in West Reading. The system also includes Reading Hospital Rehabilitation at Wyomissing; home healthcare provided by Tower Health at Home; TowerDirect ambulance and emergency response; Tower Health Medical Group; Tower Health Providers, our clinically integrated network; and 25 Tower Health Urgent Care facilities across our service area. For more information, visit towerhealth.org.