Statement from Christopher O’Connor, CEO and president, Yale New Haven Health on the recent and tragic gun violence

NEW HAVEN, CT (May 25, 2022) – As our nation once again harshly comes to grips with more senseless acts of violence, we fortify ourselves against a sea of all too familiar images of lost lives and innocence. As a parent and as a healthcare leader, I find the tragic consequences of last week’s mass shooting in Buffalo, NY and yesterday’s horrific events in Uvalde, Texas, hit too close to home.

It was less than 10 years ago that we were devastated by the deaths of school children and teachers in Sandy Hook, CT. The memory of those lost lives burns fiercely today as we gather in support of those family members, friends, teachers and students who mourn those struck down in the spring of their youth in Uvalde, as well as those killed in Buffalo.

As we process yet another, gut wrenching tragedy of this nature, we must recommit ourselves to finding a better path forward by bolstering support for behavioral health services as we do everything in our power to eliminate the scourge of gun violence in our communities.

Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS), the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut, is recognized for advanced clinical care, quality, service, cost effectiveness and commitment to improving the health status of the communities it serves. YNHHS includes five hospitals – Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence + Memorial, Westerly and Yale New Haven hospitals, several specialty networks and Northeast Medical Group, a non-profit medical foundation with several hundred community-based and hospital-employed physicians. YNHHS is affiliated with Yale University and Yale Medicine, the clinical practice of the Yale School of Medicine and the largest academic multi-specialty practice in New England. Yale New Haven Hospital is the primary teaching hospital of Yale School of Medicine. www.ynhhs.org