WALLINGFORD – The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) applauds the Connecticut House of Representatives for passing HB 6741, An Act Improving the Safety of Health Care Providers and Patients. The bill aims to raise awareness about preventing violence against healthcare workers and opportunities for the state to support hospital investments in security infrastructure. Under the provisions of the bill, the Department of Public Health will develop a marketing campaign to discourage aggressive or violent behavior toward healthcare workers and to share information about grant opportunities to support capital investments in hospitals to enhance patient and employee safety.
“Connecticut has a dedicated healthcare workforce who are exemplary but exhausted from years of pandemic response and the workforce shortage. At the same time, the healthcare workforce is dealing with increased violence in the workplace. The continuous efforts of Connecticut hospitals and health systems in partnership with CHA to prevent violence and make hospitals safer – as part of wide-ranging efforts to retain and grow the healthcare workforce – will benefit from efforts to raise awareness and support hospitals as proposed in HB 6741,” said Jim Iacobellis, CHA’s Senior Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs. “We thank Senator Henri Martin (R-Bristol) and the members and leaders of the Public Health Committee and Appropriations Committee who worked together on this bill and listened to the voices of healthcare workers and hospitals.”
Healthcare workers are uniquely and disproportionately at risk of workplace violence. Healthcare workers accounted for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illness due to violence in 2018[1]. That percentage has been steadily increasing for at least the past 10 years[2]. The number of workplace violence incidents reported by hospitals to the Department of Public Health (DPH) in 2021 increased by 28% over the number reported in 2020[3].
CHA and all Connecticut hospitals and health systems are and have been focused on providing a safe setting in hospitals for everyone. Connecticut hospitals have established workplace safety committees including management and staff to conduct risk assessments, develop a plan, and meet regularly to implement and modify the plan as required. Connecticut hospitals and health systems are identifying patients at risk for intentional harm to themselves or others and taking steps to mitigate this risk, recognizing environmental safety risks for patients and staff and making changes to reduce the occurrence of incidents, and providing ongoing education and training to staff and volunteers on crisis prevention and de-escalation techniques and approaches to ensuring personal safety. HB 6741 will support hospitals and health systems in continuing this work.
The bill now heads to the State Senate. The legislative session adjourns on June 7, 2023 at midnight.
[1] April 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics Fact Sheet, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
[2] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Memorandum dated November 28, 2022, Ref: QSO-23-04-Hospitals.
[3] Each licensed healthcare facility is obligated to report annually to DPH the number and location of workplace violence incidents, per Connecticut General Statutes Section 19a-490r.
