Lawmakers Work to Protect Healthcare Workers

Legislation Look-in

Washington, DC (WorkersCompensation.com) – As healthcare workers continue to face attacks on the job, law makers are proposing legislation that would protect them, but only some laws are seeing any movement.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while healthcare professionals make up only 10 percent of the U.S. workforce, they are the subject of nearly half (48 percent) of the recorded nonfatal injuries due to workplace violence. A National Nurses United survey in 2024 found that 81.6 percent of nurses have reported  at least one type of workplace violence within a 12-month period, and a survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians found that 91 percent of emergency physicians reported being the victim of or knowing someone who had been the victim of a violent

The issue has reached the federal level. In March, the FBI released resources to help healthcare organizations identify, assess and prevent workplace violence.

“Developed through an ongoing collaboration between the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and the American Hospital Association (AHA), the resources provide practical guidance for strengthening violence prevention efforts in health care environments,” the bureau said. “Seventeen subject matter experts, including mental health professionals, researchers, medical professionals, and law enforcement representatives, contributed to the development of the materials. This effort marks the first time the FBI has worked with a healthcare organization to develop comprehensive guidance focused on behavioral threat assessment and management.”

The guidance – available on the AHA’s website – includes templates, models and implementation references to support hospitals and health systems in establishing a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating potential threats, the bureau said.

But still, the attacks continue.

In Milwaukee, a healthcare worker was attacked inside Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital. Officials said the victim, a physician’s assistant, reported that the suspect, Kenneth Flagg, 36, was at the hospital for treatment. As the victim was talking to him, Flagg took out a tool battery he had brought with him and struck the victim in the head.

Other reports have come in from across the country – in Miami Beach, a teenager body slamming a doctor leaving him severely injured; in Tewksbury, Mass., a man at a psychiatric hospital punching a hospital employee in the face; in Butler, Pa., an emergency room patient security guards were trying to calm down struck a nurse in the face multiple times, elbowed him in the head and tried to bite him; in San Francisco, a patient at Zuckerburg San Francisco General Hospital fatality stabbed a hospital social worker several times with a 5-inch kitchen knife.

In May 2025, legislation to increase penalties on those who attack healthcare workers was introduced in Congress. The Save Healthcare Workers Act e created legal penalties for individuals who knowingly and intentionally assaulted hospital employees, modeled after legislation protecting aircraft and airport workers like flight crews and flight attendants passed after the country saw an uptick of unruly passengers attacking flight crews.

In the House, U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, sponsored H.B. 3178, and in the Senate, U.S. Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Angus King, I-Maine, sponsored companion legislation, SB 1600.

The legislation was supported by the American Hospital Association.

“Every day, health care workers bravely serve our communities, providing lifesaving care often under stressful circumstances,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said. “It is unacceptable that these dedicated caregivers regularly face the threat of violence while working to help patients heal. Ensuring a safe working environment for health care providers must be a national priority… Protecting the health care workforce is important for their safety and for the overall quality of care.”

The bills were referred to the Judiciary Committees in both bodies, where they have sat since May 2025.

Another piece of legislation, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, was introduced by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., into the House in April 2025. That bill would require the U.S. Department of Labor to address workplace violence in health care, social service, and similar sectors by issuing an occupational safety and health standard that requires healthcare employers to take actions to protect workers and other personnel from workplace violence by developing a workplace violence prevention plan, promptly investigating incidents of workplace violence, and providing relevant training and education to employees, and would require hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to comply with those standards as a condition of participating in Medicare.

The legislation was forwarded to the Committee on Education and Workforce, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Ways and Means Committee on April 1, 2025, and has not moved since.

In some states, legislatures have stepped up to address the issue. According to JD Supra, at least 20 states have enacted laws requiring hospitals and other health care employers to take specific steps, including the creation of workplace violence prevention plans, site assessments, training, and reporting and/or recordkeeping requirements. Several states, like Kentucky, Missouri, Utah and Virginia, have introduced additional legislation this year that would step up or expand existing laws.

In Kentucky, legislation passed in 2023 requiring health facilities to address workplace safety through assessment and safety plans. Legislation introduced in February of this year would require healthcare facilities to display notices about the consequences of threatening or aggressive behavior towards healthcare workers, among other things.

Missouri, Utah and Virginia have seen several bills proposed that would require hospitals to establish workplace violence prevention committees, and develop or expand workplace violence prevention plans.

In Pennsylvania, legislation to protect healthcare workers has stalled. The Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act, HB 926, passed in the Pennsylvania House last May. It would have required hospitals to establish workplace violence prevention committees to provide guidance on programs relating to the prevention of workplace violence, as well as required hospitals to offer post-incident care including acute care and mental health services for employees who suffer a workplace violence incident. The legislation also created incident reporting requirements, and protected employees and other healthcare providers from retaliation when incidents were reported.

However, the legislation has been sitting in the Senate Labor and Industry committee since May 22, 2025.

Another piece of legislation, the Health Care Facility Threat Assessment Grant Program, HB 2341, would establish a process and funding for healthcare facilities to undergo threat assessments for their facility.

“It is vitally important that we provide the tools and resources our health care facilities need to collaborate with each other, learn from each other, and to mitigate potential threats to their employees and patients,” Pa. state Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-District 46, said in a memo to the state’s General Assembly.

Ortitay’s legislation is currently in the Pennsylvania House’s Committee on Health.

“If you talk to anybody who works in the health space, whether it’s in a hospital or a doctor’s office, this is a problem,” Ortitay told WPXI-TV. “They tell me every day it’s a battle.”

Share This Article: