What hospitals do to protect staff and patients when violence strikes a place of healing

CNN — The gunman arrived at UPMC Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania carrying a bag with a handgun and zip ties, authorities said. “Anyone you talk to in health care is going to tell you that since Covid we’ve definitely seen a significant rise in workplace violence for a variety of reasons,” said Eric Clay, vice president of security services, Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, and past president of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety. “I think it’s up to each health care facility to conduct a risk assessment and determine if there is a need to arm their security officers,” Clay said. “If they use an outside consultant, I would stress that they use someone with actual, confirmed health care security experience.” There is no one solution to secure everything, Clay said. “At the end of the day everything that we are implementing, which includes the concealed weapons detection, the armed security officers and a lot of other things that we’re doing, are part of a layered plan that is designed to ensure the safety and security of our patients and of our employees and of our visitors.” Workplace violence is ‘a community issue’ Ultimately, security in health care settings is about more than safety.