USA Health trauma surgeon participates in White House meeting on gun violence
Trauma surgeon Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., attended the meeting hosted by the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which was established last year.
By Carol McPhail
cmcphail@health.southalabama.edu
USA Health trauma surgeon Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., was among more than 80 healthcare executives and providers who met at the White House on Thursday, June 6, to discuss ways to address gun violence in the U.S.
The meeting was hosted by the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which was established last year.
“It’s a big deal to have the highest office in the country acknowledge and bring awareness to one of the leading public health crises in the country — gun violence,” said Williams Hogue, an assistant professor of surgery at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine. “I am one of those who serve in a ‘boots on the ground’ capacity. As trauma surgeons, my partners and I lead a full team of healthcare providers who are available around the clock to care for injured patients, and we see so many patients with firearm-related injuries.”
She said meeting with the new White House office “means so much because it shows progress.”
More than 48,000 people were killed by guns in the U.S. in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Statistics rank Alabama fourth in the nation for gun deaths, with a rate of 23.9 deaths per 100,000 people. In an average year, 1,175 people die by guns in Alabama.
Williams Hogue is passionate about the issue. She is the founder of Project Inspire, a hospital-based firearm injury prevention program designed to curb gun violence and recidivism among youth through intentional programming and mentorship in the Mobile community. Since it was founded in 2017, 25 teens have graduated from the program, which provides a comprehensive curriculum comprising the pillars of confidence building, educational and professional development, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career-specific mentorship.
The White House meeting, held the day before National Gun Violence Awareness Day, focused in part on the role that health systems can play in partnering with communities and other stakeholders to collectively implement strategies to empower communities and mitigate gun violence.
“The boots on the ground alone can’t mitigate gun violence, but coordinating local, state and federal initiatives will have a huge impact,” Williams Hogue said. “All in all, I am honored and truly thrilled about this convening, but also for the progress it represents.”
