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Pennsylvania State Senate
10/02/2024 07:52 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?SPick=20210&chamber=S&cosponId=37375
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: May 25, 2022 11:58 AM
From: Senator John I. Kane
To: All Senate members
Subject: Healthcare Facilities Violence Prevention Act
 
Our healthcare professionals are heroes. Their heroic efforts during the COVID19 Pandemic deserve our thanks, our support, and passage of policy initiatives that reward and protect them. Our healthcare professionals are not protected from violent acts such as, physical attacks from patients, domestic disputes or even an active shooter just because they change into their scrubs or lab coat. They cannot just wash away the threats of assault or bullying from a co-worker when they “scrub up” and prepare for surgery. We expect our healthcare professionals to be at their best at all times, down to the very second that it means the difference between the life or death of neighbor, a loved one, or even when our lives are on the line. We have great expectations for their delivery of care, but we do not give them the protections from violence that they need and deserve.

Our healthcare professionals need and deserve laws to prevent violence at healthcare facilities. We can and should provide resources to ensure that our healthcare professionals will have the necessary procedures, prevention and protection in place to safely and confidently perform the duties of their demanding profession. That is why I am planning to introduce a companion bill in the Senate to House Bill 348 sponsored by Rep. Leanne Krueger and Rep. Bridget M. Kosierowski that will create the Healthcare Facilities Violence Prevention Act. The bill would do the following:
  1. Requires a health facility to establish a workplace violence prevention committee that will create, review, administer, and provide guidance on programs relating to the prevention of workplace violence at Commonwealth healthcare facilities.
  2. Requires the workplace violence prevention committee to annually perform a risk assessment evaluation of the factors that may put a healthcare provider or employee of a health facility at risk for workplace violence.
  3. Requires the workplace violence prevention committee to meet quarterly to review all cases of workplace violence and to perform duties as required.
  4. Requires the workplace violence prevention committee to prepare a report from the risk assessment and to establish a workplace violence prevention program.
  5. Requires the workplace violence prevention committee to provide training to employees and healthcare providers who provide direct patient care at the time of their hire and annually thereafter.
  6. Requires the mandatory reporting of instances of workplace violence.
  7. Protects employees and other healthcare providers from retaliatory action for reporting instances of workplace violence.
 
We need to honor our healthcare professionals with protections in the law.  I ask you to join me in co-sponsoring this legislation that will protect the heroes who are constantly saving us.
 



Introduced as SB1256


Memo Updated: May 25, 2022 11:59 AM