Event Recap: AHE's "Health Systems in Action" Symposium

Posted on: December 18, 2025

Last month, Accelerate Health Equity and Temple Health hosted the “Health Systems in Action: Our Role in Gun Violence Response and Prevention” symposium at Temple Health’s Student Faculty Center. The symposium gathered over 70 healthcare workers, community organizers, and city workers to network, information share, and learn more about some of tge vital work being done at health systems across the city to help mitigate the impact of gun violence on Philadelphians.

The event featured speakers from organizations and hospitals across the city, including CHOP, the Department of Public Health, Drexel University, Jefferson Health, PCOM, and Penn Medicine.

Dr. Amy J. Goldberg, the Marjorie Joy Katz Dean of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, kicked off the event with messages of unity and support for gun violence prevention work in Philadelphia.

“Thank you to Accelerate Health Equity for convening this important conversation. Addressing gun violence requires all of us, across institutions and across disciplines, working together. Your leadership strengthens our collective capacity to advance meaningful, community-focused solutions.”

- Dr. Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS (Temple Health)

Dr. Amy Goldberg TUH - 2025 AHE Symposium

AHE Gun Violence Prevention Grants Program Session

Our first session focused on the four AHE Gun Violence Prevention Grants Program grantees and their hospital-based gun violence intervention programs. We heard more about their learnings and how they can be replicated in hospitals across the city to help as many patients as possible.

TUH - 2025 AHE Symposium — Dr. Megan Healy (right) and Dr. Jessica Beard (middle) co-hosted the event with AHE. They presented on how their team at Temple University Hospital used human-centered design to develop and implement a hospital trauma-informed care education program.

CHOP - 2025 AHE Symposium — Dr. Rachel Myers presented on the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Violence Intervention Program (VIP) and discussed how a better understanding of neighborhood-level community resources can help provide more effective care to its participants.

Penn Med - 2025 AHE Symposium — *Dr. Elinore Kaufman presented on Penn Medicine’s work to prevent firearm injury through the distribution of secure firearm storage devices as a hospital-based intervention.*

Jefferson Health - 2025 AHE Symposium — *Dr. Stanton Miller discussed Jefferson Health’s safe gun storage initiative, which utilizes mobile cancer screening events as a method of intercepting and educating firearm owners.*

Panel Discussion - 2025 AHE Symposium — *Dr. Erica Dixon, AHE’s Director, moderated a panel discussion and audience Q&A session.*

Highlighting More City-Wide Programs and Inititatives

After a lunch and networking hour, the symposium concluded with an afternoon session highlighting leaders and organizations making strides in gun violence prevention across the city. Speakers included doctors, researchers, and community advocates from Drexel University, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and Temple Health.

PCOM - 2025 AHE Symposium — *Dr. Erik Langenau and Dr. Michelle Lent (PCOM) presented “Prescription for Hope: Relentless Advocacy as a Culture of Care.”*

"[The Health Systems in Action symposium] is a wonderful way to bring different organizations together — organizations who share a common goal of working toward addressing, reducing and eliminating gun violence. Together we are stronger, and nobody can tackle this crisis alone."

- Dr. Erik Langenau, DO, MS, MAPP (PCOM)

Dept of Public Health - 2025 AHE Symposium — *Pilar Ocampo (Philadelphia Department of Public Health) presented “The Case for Prevention in Philadelphia's Violence Intervention Ecosystem.”*

Drexel University - 2025 AHE Symposium — Tyreek J. Brown-Frank, Dr. Annette Gadegbeku, and Rosemarie Kamal (Drexel University) presented "Healing Hurt People and Beyond: a Hospital and Community-based Intersectional Approach to Violence Intervention and Prevention."

Temple Health - AHE 2025 Symposium — *Scott Charles (Temple Health) presented "Removing Shame, Restoring Dignity: a Trauma-Informed Approach to Victim Services."*

Community Resources and Programs

Beyond the impressive line-up of speakers, attendees also had a chance to learn more about local resources and programs from our partners at the Drexel Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice and the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting.

Thank you to our partners at Temple Health for co-hosting this symposium, and to each speaker and attendee for bringing unique perspectives and solutions to such a critical problem in our city. Together, we can continue to work towards a safer and more equitable future for not only patients in our health systems, but all Philadelphians.