BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum will host a roundtable discussion Friday with leaders of major health care providers from across North Dakota to discuss strengthening the state’s efforts toward Zero Suicide.
The North Dakota Department of Health’s Suicide Prevention Program supports Zero Suicide, which is a key concept of the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention based on the foundational belief that suicide deaths for individuals under care within health and behavioral health systems are preventable. National research shows up to 45 percent of individuals who die by suicide have visited their primary care physician within a month of their death. The North Dakota Department of Health’s Suicide Prevention Program supports Zero Suicide.
“Suicide is a public health emergency and workforce issue for North Dakota, with our state seeing the largest suicide rate increase in the nation since 1999, at 58 percent,” Burgum said. “Health care systems are on the front lines. We need their help to solve this public health crisis, and their participation is essential in this important discussion.”
Zero Suicide is a priority of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, a project of Education Development Center's Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and is supported by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
What: Discussion on strengthening Zero Suicide efforts in North Dakota.
Who: Gov. Doug Burgum; leaders from Sanford Health, Catholic Health Initiatives, Essentia Health, the VA and other major health care providers; North Dakota Suicide Prevention Coalition Chair Kora Dockter; representatives of Elbowoods Memorial Health Center in Newtown, which has implemented Zero Suicide; and officials from the North Dakota Department of Health’s Suicide Prevention Program and the Department of Human Services.
When: 3-5 p.m. Sept. 28
Where: State Library Conference Room on the third floor of the Liberty Memorial Building, 604 E. Boulevard Ave., Bismarck.