[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 106 (Monday, June 24, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H5043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  VIOLENCE AGAINST HEALTHCARE WORKERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, on June 11 of this month, the House 
Education and Labor Committee reported out legislation, H.R. 1309, the 
Workplace Violence Prevention for Healthcare and Social Service Workers 
Act. Mr. Speaker, this is a culmination and a milestone of a 7-year 
process that began in 2013.
  Like many Members of Congress, I have been hearing about stories of 
rising violence in emergency rooms, ambulances, and treatment 
facilities to nurses, doctors, and nurses aides that showed a 
disturbing trend.
  One such case was Helene Andrews, a registered nurse from Danbury, 
Connecticut, who was assaulted multiple times during her career. 
Shortly before she retired, while she was dispensing medication to a 
patient, she was thrown to the floor and her pelvis was shattered.
  In 2013, former Congressman George Miller of California and I 
requested a report from the Government Accountability Office to dig 
deeper to determine how pervasive this violence is and what strategies 
are at our disposal to reverse this trend. The report, which was 
completed in 2016, found that workers in healthcare facilities 
experienced substantially higher rates of nonfatal injuries due to 
violence in the workplace compared to workers overall.
  Between 2006 and 2016, there was a 70 percent increase in violent 
incidents that occurred in healthcare and social service workplaces 
that resulted in employees being away from work. According to the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare and social service workers are 
nearly five times more likely to suffer a serious injury from workplace 
violence than workers in other settings.
  Up to 30 percent of hospital workers report being assaulted at work. 
For employees in psych hospitals, that number is drastically higher. 
Nearly 50 percent of emergency room physicians have been physically 
assaulted at work, and 80 percent report that this violence affects 
patient care.
  Despite these alarming statistics, we know that violence against this 
workforce is, in fact, grossly underreported. Many medical 
professionals are discouraged from reporting incidents, fear further 
stigmatizing patients, or are just told: ``Move on. Shake it off. It is 
part of the job.''
  Mr. Speaker, during the course of work on this legislation, we 
actually heard from the Cleveland Clinic in northeast Ohio, which is 
one of the largest healthcare networks in America. The CEO of Cleveland 
Clinic, Tom Mihaljevic, gave his 2019 state of the clinic address, 
where he described that there is a national epidemic of violence 
against healthcare workers, especially in emergency room departments. 
Last year alone, nearly 30,000 weapons were confiscated from patients 
and visitors in that healthcare network. At the time we did the markup, 
one of the members of our committee actually expressed disbelief that, 
in fact, that statistic was accurate.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter I supplied to 
Congresswoman Foxx at the end of last week citing Mr. Mihaljevic's 
report, which was a YouTube that is easily found, as well as an article 
from Modern Healthcare, which quoted this amazing and astonishing 
statistic.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                  2nd District, CT, June 21, 2019.
     Rep. Virginia Foxx,
     Ranking Member, Committee on Education 
         and Labor, Washington, DC.
       Dear Ranking Member Foxx: During our June 11th mark up of 
     H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care 
     and Social Service Workers Act you questioned the veracity of 
     a statement I made regarding the high number of weapons 
     confiscated from patients and visitors at the Cleveland 
     Clinic in 2018. The number I cited, 30,000, is indeed 
     alarming. It is also accurate, and further evidence that 
     health care and social service workers require enforceable 
     protections to limit potential violence against them at their 
     place of work.
       During the mark up, you asked publicly that I verify this 
     statistic, so I would like to share with you two resources 
     which confirm that 30,000 weapons were confiscated from the 
     Cleveland Clinic's Northeast Ohio facilities in 2018.
       In Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic's 2019 ``State 
     of The Clinic'' address from February 27, 2019, he states: 
     ``there is a national epidemic of violence against health 
     care workers, especially in emergency departments . . . last 
     year alone, nearly 30,000 weapons were confiscated from 
     patients and visitors.'' You can view the address here: 
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOr2UqlNzuY
       Additionally, a March 11, 2019 Modern Healthcare article 
     entitled ``Healthcare workers face violence `epidemic' '' 
     cites Dr. Mihaljevic's address and reports that ``In 2018, 
     the clinic confiscated a staggering 30,000 weapons from 
     patients and visitors in its system in the Northeast Ohio 
     region.'' The article can be read here: https://tinyurl.com/
 y5thhm4r
       Given your understandable alarm upon hearing that the tens 
     of thousands of employees working at these facilities face 
     daily exposure to violence, I would welcome your support of 
     H.R. 1309. As you know, violence against this workforce is on 
     the rise. Both Democratic and Republican OSHA Secretaries 
     believe an enforceable standard is the best way to reverse 
     this trend, and this legislation will ensure that happens in 
     a timely manner.
           Thank you,
                                                     Joe Courtney.

  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, it is obviously not limited just to the 
State of Ohio. We know these incidents are preventable.
  Since 1996, OSHA has published voluntary guidelines that recommend 
commonsense preventative measures that employers can take to reduce the 
risk and severity of violent incidents, and that is what our bill does. 
It basically requires, through OSHA, that there be a violence 
prevention plan in healthcare settings.
  It is not one size fits all. It recognizes that some facilities are 
different from others. But, in fact, there has to be a way to train 
staff to understand patient risk, to understand ways to deescalate 
violence, and a way to design workforces to reduce the incidence of 
violence.
  In addition, it requires that there be a reporting mechanism to OSHA 
when these incidents occur. Today, in a hospital, if there is a slip 
and fall, it must be reported; if there is a chemical leak, it must be 
reported; but if a nurse is punched, kicked, or spit at, that is not 
required to be reported, and that is what our bill will do.
  The legislation was reported out with a favorable report. We have 187 
cosponsors of the legislation. It is bipartisan, and it will be brought 
up this summer for final action.
  We have waited far too long to protect the caregivers, the people in 
the caring professions which every American relies on and depends on to 
be healed, consoled, and cared for. Yet it is clear from the GAO report 
that they are being subjected to incidents of violence which, again, 
are totally unacceptable and which hinder their ability to do their 
mission. It is time to pass H.R. 1309.
  Again, I applaud the support from the emergency room physicians, the 
emergency room nurses, and the American Nurses Association, as well as 
a host of other groups that are affiliated with our healthcare delivery 
system.
  Let's protect the caregivers. Let's pass H.R. 1309.

                          ____________________