Democratic State Representatives Melissa Shusterman (D-157) and Chris Pielli (D-156) issued a co-sponsorship memorandum on April 3 for proposed legislation to provide protections for health care workers from assault, violence and intimidation.
“No one should be subject to intimidation nor violence as a part of their employment. Yet our health care workers increasingly find themselves the targets of physical violence and verbal abuse,” the memorandum states. “The American Hospital Association reports that two thirds of all emergency department physicians report being assaulted, with a quarter of them experiencing assaults multiple times per week. Our health care workers – who have already devoted their lives to helping and healing others – deserve to feel safe while at work.”
Despite previous measures taken by the state, threats against health care workers has not decreased, and Shusterman believes more needs to be done to expand protections to every worker, including aides, custodians, and volunteers. She added that by promoting safety, this legislation will also aid in the recruitment and retention of workers in health care facilities.
“Our region has been struggling with the impact of several hospital closures, which have put increasing strain on the remaining hospitals, their staff, and the quality of care they can provide,” Shusterman said. “Hospitals are now operating at or above 100% capacity, there is an ongoing shortage of nurses, and patients must travel farther and farther for necessary medical care.”
READ: Twitter account Libs of TikTok blamed for harassment of children’s hospitals
Previous protections include legislation introduced by State Senator Judy Ward (R-30), which was signed into law as Act 51 by then-Democratic Governor Tom Wolf in 2020 to expand existing protections for health care practitioners and technicians.
“Under the new law, the penalty for an assault against a healthcare practitioner in which there is bodily injury would be upgraded from a misdemeanor of the second degree to a felony of the second degree,” reported the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health.
Act 54 was also signed into law in 2020 and permits identification tags to exclude an employee’s last name as long as the tag includes a recent photograph, the worker’s title and the name of the health care facility.
“In the era of social media, the last name of an employee can provide a malicious individual with information needed to stalk, harass and threaten medical professionals,” said State Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-28), who had introduced the legislation in the Senate. “This new law will provide for added protections for the individuals who work to keep our communities healthy.”
In 2023, federal lawmakers attempted additional measures to protect healthcare workers with the introduction of the Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Representative Madeleine Dean (PA-04) and Republican Representative Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-08), would make assault or intimidation of hospital employees a federal crime.
