Ranney worked as a physician at
Rhode Island Hospital in
Providence, where she witnessed the consequences of
gun violence. She used her background to start conversations about guns in the context of public health. The following year, Ranney delivered a
TED talk where she discussed how healthcare professionals can help to solve America's gun problem. Ranney has advocated for increased investment in community violence prevention programs and other interventions that move beyond gun control laws. in 2012
#GetUsPPE During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Ranney drew public attention to the lack of
personal protective equipment (PPE) available for frontline staff. Ranney described shortages in PPE in
The New England Journal of Medicine, where she called for
Donald Trump to invoke the
Defense Production Act to spur private companies to manufacture PPE. She called on private-sector companies to expand manufacturing of
N95 masks, and suggested the
Food and Drug Administration relax regulations to allow healthcare workers faster access to protective clothing. In March 2020, Ranney submitted recommendations to the
federal government of the United States on what priorities should be included in the
CARES Act. Her recommendations included focussing on health security, protecting the health of all American's, particularly those from minoritised backgrounds, and to invest money in public health initiatives. #GetUsPPE called for the public to donate money and resources to protect frontline physicians. Amongst other donations, Ranney collected 4,000 N95 masks from colleagues at Brown University. In March 2020 Ranney lost her colleague, Frank Gabrin, to the
coronavirus disease. He was the first emergency doctor to die from such symptoms. Ranney was quoted by
Meet the Press as saying, "He was a leader within the emergency room field. ... Unless our government steps up & gets us the protective equipment we need, he will be the first of many of my colleagues". In December she became the school's Academic Dean. ==Yale School of Public Health==