Hospital leaders look to tackle gun violence in new climate

Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, says it’s important to maintain a sense of optimism about finding solutions to reduce gun violence.

He spoke about building more support and avoiding pessimism at Northwell Health’s sixth annual gun violence prevention forum Thursday. Hospital executives, business leaders and political figures attended the event.

Dowling, who kicked off the forum, stressed that gun violence is a public health issue and one that goes beyond politics, pointing out that it’s the leading cause of death among children. Yet he also suggested greater challenges with the new political climate in Washington, even though he didn’t mention any names.

“There are headwinds, and there are more headwinds than there were a couple of months ago,” Dowling said.

But he said the tailwinds come from people who remain focused on the issue and stay resilient. He said it’s important to stay hopeful to help bring people to come together.

“Nobody follows a skeptic over time. Nobody follows somebody who's consistently negative,” Dowling said.

He also highlighted the importance of new strategies to reduce gun violence. At the forum, the Ad Council announced it has teamed with Northwell and other hospitals to launch a new campaign to spur discussions on reducing gun violence: “Agree to agree.”

“Nostalgia is not a strategy,” he said. “We want to go forward, not back.”

Dowling sought to move away from partisan politics in addressing gun violence. “There is an opportunity for common ground,” he said.

“It should never be a partisan issue when it comes to the lives and the future of our kids, when it comes to the well-being of families, when it comes to building solid, decent communities, when it comes to safety on the streets, safety in the schools, safety in places of worship, safety in our hospitals,” he said.

The safety of hospitals has gained more attention in light of the fatal shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital just outside York, Pennsylvania. A gunman killed a police officer and shot and wounded five others. Three UPMC staff members and two police officers were wounded before police killed the shooter.

Dowling also has rallied other hospital and healthcare leaders to take steps on gun violence. He helped form the National Health Care CEO Council on Gun Violence Prevention and Safety, and he said he’s been encouraged that more hospital executives are speaking out on the issue. Over 60 health systems have joined the council.

“Gun violence issue is such an important public health issue, it is a public health issue. That's why healthcare organizations are more and more involved, because we all see the results of it,” Dowling said.

• Read our special report: Gun violence, seen through the eyes of nurses

Matthew Cook, president and CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association, said he feels an obligation to be vocal about looking at ways to reduce the number of kids being killed by guns. He acknowledged that the association represents hospitals across the country in both red and blue regions.

Cook talked about his work leading pediatric hospitals and asking children about how often they hear gunshots.

“Those children's hospitals serve children,” Cook said. “Children don't vote, and so we are their voice. We're their advocate. And if we can't stand up and be their advocate on the issue that is the number one reason why they lose their lives, then I'm not sure what our role is, right?”

“We've heard a lot about courage today, and if we don't have the courage to have a voice on the leading cause of death, then I would question our value as an association. And so that's how I view it,” he said.

Wright Lassiter III, president and CEO of CommonSpirit Health, the Catholic health system with 137 hospitals, says that the system treats tens of thousands of victims of accidental harm from gun violence each year.

“Our data says that nearly 70% of those are preventable. And so, we have an obligation to find a way to collaborate with the communities we serve to solve this problem,” Lassiter said at the forum.

In Lexington, Kentucky, CommonSpirit has formed a partnership with the National Rifle Association to help educate the public on storing firearms safely, he said.

“That community had a lot of trust in the NRA, and we had a problem,” Lassiter said. “The problem was we had a lot of kids who needed to be educated on guns, and a lot of parents that needed to be educated on how to safely store the guns that they had.”

J.P. Gallagher, president and CEO of Endeavor Health, a nine-hospital system in the Chicago area, pointed to the mass shooting in Highland Park on July 4, 2022 as a catalyst for action. Seven people were killed and 48 others were injured, and Endeavor treated dozens of victims. “That experience is part of our community. It is part of our organization,” he said.

Since then, Endeavor Health has partnered with others in a $200 million community investment fund to spur change in areas such as violence prevention, behavioral health, food insecurity and more.

“It has created trust. It has allowed us to move the needle in some very meaningful ways. And not surprisingly, with our 27,000 team members, it's been incredibly motivating,” Gallagher said.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination, appeared at the forum and discussed the difficult political climate hampering progress on areas where there is public support. He bemoaned Republicans opposing what he called sensible measures such as background checks.

Christie said he “never understood the objection to things like universal background checks. I haven't understood why people who have a record of violence can't be precluded from holding and possessing guns.”

But also chided some Democrats for deriding law-abiding citizens who want to own firearms for protection.

Christie advised hospital and health leaders to pursue small but meaningful steps to try and reduce gun violence.

“The forces of resistance are much more effective when you don't go incrementally,” Christie said. “When you go at them in one big swoop, if you swing and miss, it usually puts you on the sidelines for a couple of years.”