Evanston, Illinois – July 26, 2023 – NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore), a part of NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office today announced a new partnership to distribute free gun locks at Evanston Hospital and Swedish Hospital pediatrics units, as well as Evanston Township High School Health Center in an effort to promote safe gun storage. This partnership builds on a pilot program launched in September 2022 by pediatric physicians at those NorthShore locations, as well as Highland Park Hospital, to screen for the presence of guns in the home. NorthShore is exploring similar partnerships to expand this initiative throughout its communities.

Guns are the leading cause of death for children, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and 13 children die from guns every day. A 2021 study estimated that 30 million children lived in homes with guns, with 4.6 million living in homes where the guns were loaded and unlocked, and a separate study has indicated a sharp increase in the number of children living in homes with guns in recent years.

“I have seen the devastating consequences of gun violence on children and their families,” said Ann Marie Thomas, M.D., a Pediatric Hospitalist with NorthShore. “As a pediatrician, part of our job is educating families on keeping their kids safe, whether that be with seat belts, smoke detectors or securing guns in the home. Since starting our project, we’ve been able to talk about gun safety with over a thousand families. This new program gives us an opportunity to not only empower families with knowledge of how to discuss gun safety but also provide the gun locks they need to keep their children safe.”

"Gun violence has been the leading cause of death for children and teens in this country since 2020. Suicides account for over half of all firearm deaths (54%), and over half of all suicides involve a firearm (53%). If you have a firearm, it is your responsibility to ensure that it is locked and kept away from anyone who shouldn't have access to it, especially children,” said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. “We have already distributed hundreds of simple, effective gun locks in partnership with a number of leading Chicago healthcare organizations. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health who will be distributing gun locks to three additional locations within Cook County. Continuing these partnerships allows us to potentially prevent potential injury and the tragic loss of innocent life. The Sheriff's Office and the dedicated doctors and nurses at these hospitals will do whatever we can to help keep families and the communities we serve safe."

The partnership is part of a larger effort by NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health to promote gun safety in the communities it serves. The health system recently joined a nationwide public awareness and education campaign in partnership with more than 170 health care organizations to help parents and families feel empowered to ask about access to guns and normalize the conversation about safe gun storage.