As child health professionals, all of us at Dartmouth Health Children’s know that gun violence threatens the health and safety of all children and families, and we believe that we must unite as Americans across the socio-political spectrum to address it.
Keith J. Loud, MDDartmouth Health Children’s has joined a coalition of over 20 leading national healthcare organizations to launch a campaign developed by the Ad Council addressing the gun violence crisis facing America’s youth. “Agree to Agree” unites gun owners and non-gun owners alike, building from the common ground we all share to protect our children from firearm injuries and death.
“As child health professionals, all of us at Dartmouth Health Children’s know that gun violence threatens the health and safety of all children and families, and we believe that we must unite as Americans across the socio-political spectrum to address it,” said Dartmouth Health Children’s physician-in-chief Keith J. Loud, MD. “We’re proud—as a member of the Children’s Hospital Association—to be one of the first children’s hospitals to participate in this ambitious effort to help people across the country have this discussion.”
In the new campaign, one of the public service announcements showcases real kids and their parents uniting to help adults recognize there’s no debate that children and teens should be protected from firearm violence. The PSA directs viewers to AgreeToAgree.org, where individuals can learn about gun violence and how they can take action in their homes and communities to prevent firearm injury and death.
Another PSA in the series features healthcare professionals speaking directly to other clinicians on their unique role in preventing firearm injuries through collaborative conversations with their patients. The video instructs healthcare professionals to visit AgreeToAgree.org/HealthCare for resources on how to have collaborative gun violence prevention dialogue with families.
For more information on the “Agree to Agree” effort and to access resources such as conversation guides and shareable graphics that educate and encourage audiences to take individual steps to protect communities and children, visit AgreeToAgree.org.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.
About Dartmouth Health Children's
Dartmouth Health Children's is the only comprehensive pediatric healthcare system in the region. Fully integrated in Dartmouth Health and anchored for more than 30 years by Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD)—in Lebanon, NH—Dartmouth Health Children's promotes health, advances knowledge, and delivers the best patient and family-centered care for infants, children, and adolescents across New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health Children's conducts groundbreaking research and educates the next generations of health professionals as the primary pediatric partner of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Highly skilled and collaborative child health professionals provide care in multiple settings across the region. Outpatient specialty visits and same-day surgery services are available at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) and Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics Manchester. Primary care appointments in general pediatrics are available at Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics in Bedford, Concord, Lebanon, Manchester and Nashua, NH and Bennington, VT; as well as at Dartmouth Health members: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Cheshire Medical Center, New London Hospital and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center.