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OHSU and Portland State University invite the public to a community forum, "Transforming pain into power: Equipping a community to address the impacts of gun violence.'' The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Highland Christian Center, 7600 N.E. Glisan St. (The Oregonian/OregonLive)

(The )

Public health professors, physicians and students at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital want to go beyond "stitching up'' gunshot and stab wounds of victims who end up in the emergency department.

On Saturday, the school will host a community forum to bring together doctors, police and families affected by shootings, domestic violence or suicides, seeking to play a larger role to reduce violence in the metro Portland area.

"Gun violence is something that is not inevitable. It is preventable,'' said Dr. Brian Gibbs, associate professor of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. "We want to create a safer venue where people impacted by violence are connected to resources they need.''

The conference was born out of anger and concern after the June mass shooting at a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which left 49 people dead and 53 wounded, followed by a sniper's attack on Dallas police in July, killing five officers.

The successive, shocking violence rocked the nation. "It was very mind-numbing,'' Gibbs said.

It led OHSU officials, he said, to ask: "What is our role as an institution?''

Dr. Alicia Moreland-Capuia, executive director of OHSU's Avel Gordly Center for Healing and assistant professor at the OHSU School of Medicine, said the university officials will be "part teacher and listener'' at Saturday's event.

"I want to know what OHSU and PSU School of Public Health can do to help communities heal,'' Moreland-Capuia said. "OHSU and PSU are coming down off the hill to more effectively work with people in the community.''

According to the Oregon Health Authority, 2,280 Oregon residents died from gun injuries from 2010 to 2014. The majority, or 85 percent, of those killed were male. Most of the deaths resulted from suicides (1,897), followed by homicides (282).

The community forum is called "Transforming Pain into Power.''

Antoinette Edwards, director of the city's Youth Violence Prevention Office, will be the moderator. Smaller breakout sessions are planned: "Strengthen families as a means of preventing violence,'' "Intimate partner violence and interpersonal violence,'' "Turning on thyself: Uncovering deep emotional pain,'' "Fear, trauma and the police,'' "Young, scrappy and hungry: Unleashing youth potential.''

The event is free and open to the public. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Highland Christian Center, 7600 N.E. Glisan St. Interested participants can register for the forum online.

The event is one of three forums the schools have planned. An earlier one was for the OHSU and PSU community. The next one will be for business leaders.

Businesses can help in the marketing of a violence prevention campaign and consider the health care benefits provided for victims of violence, Gibbs said.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian