HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY NEWS Needed: Reliable Information on Violent Incidents and Crime in Healthcare Facilities


Hospitals and healthcare patients, staff and visitors face a significant increase in crimes and violent aggression according to a Sentinel Event Alert from the Joint Commission. To complicate matters further, the availability of statistics on healthcare facility crime is limited. In the absence of this information about crimes, it is difficult for hospitals/healthcare facility administrations to gauge the extent to which their particular hospital or facility is safer or less safe and secure than competing organizations. Some healthcare facilities’ policies may limit


the efficacy of identification or allocation of security resources that will improve public safety and security and prevent crimes.


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Lawsuit Filed Against Aventura Hospital After a Patient Was Killed by Another Patient An attorney for the mother of a patient strangled to death at a hospital has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the case. The man had been admitted for depression and placed in the psychiatric ward. An investigation later showed that another patient in the same room, who had a long history of arrests, had strangled him. “What I am asking for in this lawsuit is not just justice for this family, but let’s look into proper security and safety at this hospital and all other hospitals,” said attorney Ervin Gonzalez. He says the hospital had a “duty,” to protect the patient.


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Medical Workers Say Violence is Too Often Part of the Job Experts said preventing violence in medical settings involves a complex mix of security measures, risk assessment, training, attitude adjustment, customer service, and knowing how to deal with agitated people. Arming staff with guns is not a popular option. The real problem is a "culture of acceptance" that starts with nurses, said Deena Brecher,


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