FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Michelle Aliprantis, MBA
Regional Director of Marketing and Communications
MAliprantis@primehealthcare.com
Leading Healthcare Systems across the Tri-State Area Join National Gun Safety Movement to Address Leading Cause of Death in Kids
Prime Pennsylvania Region (January 17, 2023) –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.
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About Lower Bucks Hospital: Lower Bucks Hospital is a community hospital, serving the Lower Bucks County region with medical, surgical, and emergency care. Located in historic Bristol, Pennsylvania, the Hospital is well-known for its knowledgeable medical staff, including cardiology, orthopedics, radiology, wound care, and general surgery. The hospital has more than 200 physicians on staff, as well as another 700 employees. As part of Prime Healthcare Services, headquartered in Ontario, California, Lower Bucks Hospital is focused on becoming one of the leaders in technology. Prime Healthcare is an award-winning hospital management company operating 45 acute care hospitals in 14 states, including Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol, and Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County.
About Prime Healthcare and Prime Healthcare Foundation: Prime Healthcare is an award-winning health system operating 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states, providing over 2.6 million patient visits annually. It is one of the nation’s leading health systems with nearly 50,000 employees and physicians dedicated to providing the highest quality healthcare. Fourteen of the Prime Healthcare hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity. Based in Ontario, California, Prime Healthcare is nationally recognized for award-winning quality care and has been named a Top 10 and Top 15 Health System by IBM Watson Health. Its hospitals have been named among the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals” 58 times and have received more Patient Safety Excellence Awards from Healthgrades than any other health system in the past six years. To learn more, please visit www.primehealthcare.com