Northwell establishes Center for Gun Violence Prevention

Appoints external advisory committee of nationally recognized experts to address rising public health crisis

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of an ongoing effort to spur national debate on the need for health care leaders to help curtail the nearly 40,000 firearms-related deaths that occur every year in the US, Northwell Health today announced the creation of a Center for Gun Violence Prevention.

Northwell President & CEO Michael Dowling established the new center to help shape the role that Northwell and other health systems can play in advancing safety, education, prevention and research, bolstered by his pledge of $1 million to support those efforts – and a call for other large health systems to match his financial commitment.

“I firmly believe that health care leaders have a social responsibility to try to stop the mindless bloodshed caused by firearms-related violence in this country, just as we respond aggressively to health crises like vaping, the flu or the new coronavirus that is causing worldwide panic,” said Mr. Dowling. “While many health system CEOs continue to remain silent, the Gun Violence Prevention Forum that Northwell hosted two months ago in Manhattan reaffirmed the incredible passion that exists among the nation’s physicians, researchers, administrators and others who are committed to combatting what is clearly a public health emergency.”

Northwell’s new Center for Gun Violence Prevention is headed by Chethan Sathya, MD, a pediatric surgeon and associate trauma medical director at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, with support from Thomas McGinn, MD, Northwell’s deputy physician-in-chief, and Jose Prince, MD, vice chair of surgery at Northwell Health and director of the Laboratory of Pediatric Injury and Inflammation at The Feinstein Institutes’ Center for Immunology and Inflammation.

As a result of relationships forged at Northwell’s December 12th forum, the following prominent voices on gun violence prevention have agreed to serve on an advisory committee that will guide the new interdisciplinary center:

• Peter Masiakos, MD, founder, Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Gun Violence Prevention;
• Robert McLean, MD, president, American College of Physicians;
• Megan Ranney, MD, chief research officer, AFFIRM Research;
• Mark Rosenberg, MD, former head, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and
• Daniel Webster, MD, director, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.

“Our goal is to build a blueprint for how health systems across the nation can reduce gun violence and promote gun safety,” said Dr. Sathya, whose trauma surgery training at Northwestern Medicine’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago involved treating babies with gunshot wounds. “If we can develop a successful gun violence prevention strategy internally, it will serve as an example for other health systems and industries to follow suit. We want to lead the charge on this and show others that meaningful change is possible and that lives can be saved.”

About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, about 750 outpatient facilities and more than 13,600 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 70,000 employees – 16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.