New Virginia law aims to protect health care workers from violence

NORFOLK, Va. — As July 1 approaches, hundreds of new laws are set to take effect across Virginia, including legislation designed to protect one of the state’s most vital workforces: health care professionals.

House Bill 2269, co-patroned by 97th District Del. Jackie Hope Glass, along with its counterpart SB 1260, mandates that all hospitals in the state establish systems for reporting and tracking incidents of workplace violence. It then requires health care facilities to report their collected data, at least quarterly, to the Virginia Department of Health.

The goal is to create a safer environment for health care workers who increasingly find themselves at risk.

“What we were seeing is nurses both physically and sexually transgressed against,” said Del. Glass. “It’s not just patients; there are family members under a great deal of stress who have picked up computers and thrown them or grabbed staff inappropriately. I’ve heard that they don’t feel safe.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while healthcare workers make up just 10% of the U.S. workforce, they experience 48% of all non-deadly workplace violence injuries. HB 2269 and SB 1260 seek to improve documentation and ultimately prevent these incidents.

Stephen Hollowell, Sentara’s System-Wide Security Senior Director, said the health care provider began laying its own groundwork to prevent these incidents years ago. 

“Unfortunately, it is more often patients than visitors that do it,” Hollowell said. “These patients that come in, they’re probably at their lowest ebb, and it doesn’t take much to push them over the edge.”

In response to growing safety concerns, Sentara has already taken significant steps. In 2021, it established a Workplace Violence Prevention Task Force, and in 2022, Sentara introduced weapons detection systems in most of its emergency departments. The health system also currently staffs its facilities with armed officers or officers with tasers. Staff are trained in de-escalation tactics. 

Hollowell explained, “[Perpetrators] take it out on the very staff trying to care for them.”

According to Hollowell, Sentara should not have to make any major changes to its security framework come July 1, although minor adjustments may be necessary. 

“[Documentation] allows us to see if there are any real trends that perhaps we’ve missed in our program,” he explained. “That allows us to continue to use our resources appropriately to prevent violence.”

This new legislation builds on previous efforts by the Virginia General Assembly to protect healthcare workers. In 2019, lawmakers passed a bill making it a Class 1 misdemeanor to assault a healthcare worker. 

Hollowell made his stance on penalizing perpetrators clear, saying, “Like other states, I do believe Virginia needs to pass a bill that makes it a felony to assault a health care worker.”

“I’m very careful about felonizing people,” Del. Glass cautioned. “A felony is a life-altering thing. I also [understand} that when trauma happens to a person, their life is inherently changed. I do believe this will put us on a track to have better consequences.”