PHC4 Research Brief - Firearm-related Injuries in Pennsylvania - News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Joe Martin, Communications Director
717-232-6787 or

Troy A. Thompson
Communications Director
PA Department of Health
717-787-1783

NEW STATE REPORT ON FIREARM-RELATED INJURIES OUT – HOSPITALIZATION RATES, DEATHS HIGHEST FOR MALES, BLACKS, YOUNG ADULTS

Harrisburg, PA - August 04, 2005 - Firearm-related injuries accounted for 4,777 hospitalizations and 3,588 deaths between 2001 and 2003, according to figures released today by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Hospital charges for firearm-related injuries in Pennsylvania also rose dramatically, averaging $127 million per year during that period.

"Firearm-related injuries represent an important public health issue because of their impact on cost and quality," said Marc P. Volavka, Executive Director of PHC4. "These cases also represent mounting costs to publicly-financed health care as 70 percent of all firearm-related injury victims in Pennsylvania were either Medical Assistance recipients or had no health insurance coverage at all."

"The effects of firearm-related injuries and deaths reach all of us, whether directly or indirectly, physically or economically," Secretary Johnson said. "Gun violence has reached epidemic proportions and is an issue that the entire state must embrace in order to implement community-level programs that will help all of us change the way we view violence for the sake of our young people."

In 2003, there were 1,643 hospital admissions for firearm-related injures, compared to 1,518 in 2002. The median charge for inpatient hospitalization due to firearm injuries during 2001-03 was $30,814 – more than double the $15,182 charge for 1996-98.

In urban counties across the state, the percentages of deaths for firearm-related injuries due to assaults or homicides were much higher than in rural counties where suicides and accidents were more common as the causes of death and hospitalization respectively. Young adults, blacks and males had the highest hospitalization and death rates for firearm-related injuries. The highest age-specific suicide rates involving firearms occurred for older Pennsylvanians.

Copies of Firearm-related Injuries in Pennsylvania are free and are available on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website at http://www.health.state.pa.us, the PHC4 website at http://www.phc4.org, or by calling PHC4 at 717-232-6787.