June is National Gun Violence Awareness Month
RWJUH’s Level I Trauma Center brought together community-based organizations, activists, elected officials and gun violence survivors as part of its Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) to address the serious impact that gun violence has on our communities during a Gun Violence Awareness Summit. Attending the summit are from left to right: Patrick Delaney, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, RWJUH; Alan Lee, President, RWJUH; Diana Starace, Injury Prevention Coordinator, RWJUH Level I Trauma Center; Mayur Narayan, MD, MPH, MBA, MHPE, FACS, FCCM, FICS, FACT, FAIM, MAMSE, Chief, Division of Acute Care Surgery, Professor of Surgery, and Trauma Medical Director, RWJUH and RWJMS; Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (District 21); Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak (District 18).
(New Brunswick, NJ) – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s (RWJUH) Level I Trauma Center brought together community-based organizations, activists, elected officials and gun violence survivors as part of its Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) to address the serious impact that gun violence has on our communities during a Gun Violence Awareness Summit. The event was held in recognition of June’s designation as Gun Violence Awareness Month.
The day featured a discussion of current research, local perspectives, and proposed legislation to address gun violence in our communities. A broad range of community-based organizations were also available to provide education and resource materials that support victims of gun violence, sexual assault and domestic violence, as well those who want to get involved to address the issue.
Panelists included:
- New Jersey Executive Assistant Attorney General Angela Cai
- Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak (District 18)
- Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (District 21)
- New Brunswick Mayor James Cahill
- Michael Anestis, PhD, Professor and Executive Director, New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University
- Rachel Choron, MD, FACS, and Amanda Teichman, MD, RWJUH Level I Trauma Center Trauma Surgeons
“Our goal is to make this an annual program so we can chart our progress and continue to develop new strategies to address this critical public health issue,” said Mayur Narayan, MD, MPH, MBA, MHPE, FACS, FCCM, FICS, FACT, FAIM, MAMSE, Chief, Division of Acute Care Surgery, Professor of Surgery, and Trauma Medical Director, RWJUH. “Bringing together health care providers, law enforcement and elected officials allows us to gain a holistic perspective that ultimately helps us take a more collective, strategic approach to reduce the incidence of gun violence in our communities.”
Inviting community-based organizations and advocates to participate is also a key part of this initiative, says Diana Starace, Injury Prevention Coordinator for the Level I Trauma Center at RWJUH.
“We invited many local organizations so that both our victims and survivors of violence can learn more about their services and utilize them if they are needed,” Starace explains. “But it’s equally important that all of us connect and network as providers to develop an exceptionally supportive safety net for our victims and survivors now and in the future.”
Those attending viewed the “91 of Us” display that was at RWJUH from June 16-18. The display featured 132 chairs representing the number of deaths per day due to gun violence in the United States (CDC 2023). Ninety-one of these chairs had colored t-shirts representing suicide, homicide and unintentional death. The remaining 41 chairs were empty, representing the increase in deaths due to gun violence since the initiative’s inception in 2017.
“91 of Us,” was conceived by Jersey Shore University Medical Center Injury Prevention Coordinator Tracy Nerney’s daughter, Caleigh, a social artist.
About the RWJUH Level I Trauma Center Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program
RWJUH’s Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) assists trauma patients who have been injured due to community violence recover from physical and emotional trauma by empowering them with skills, resources and opportunities for positive change. RWJUH’s Violence Intervention Team provides case management services in the hospital, home, and community settings.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) New Brunswick, an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 628-bed academic medical center that is New Jersey’s largest academic medical center through its deep partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. RWJUH is the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a nationally-ranked 2024-25 Best Children’s Hospital by U.S. News & World Report. Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, orthopedics, bariatric surgery and women’s health. A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first designated Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.
Learn more at www.rwjbh.org/newbrunswick or www.bmsch.org.
Contact: Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
732-937-8568