MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Dr. Ashley Williams-Hogue, a trauma surgeon at USA Health University Hospital, is pleased that the U.S. Surgeon General has declared gun violence a public health crisis.
Through her work, she sees how gun violence can destroy people’s lives.
“We in the medical profession look at gun violence like a disease,” Dr. Williams-Hogue said.
She said of the thousands of patients she sees annually, about a quarter have gunshot wounds.
“When a patient is admitted to the hospital as a victim of gun violence, there is a 40 percent chance they will return to the hospital with another gunshot wound,” she explained, “and 20 percent of those second gunshot wounds are fatal.”
She has been vocal on the issue, traveling to the White House on June 6 to meet with 80 medical experts as part of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
“It was about what is the role of the trauma system in the health care system in the fight against gun violence,” she asked. “What is our role? What can we do and how do we put our money where our mouth is, so to speak? What are we going to invest to actually see change and see sustainable change? So it was really an honor and it was really motivating to see that.”
But to solve the problem, she said, the community needs to be involved.
“There’s a lot we can do together at the national level, but there’s also a lot we can do here in Mobile,” she concluded.
