Gov. Braun proclaims June 6 Hospitals Against Violence Day

 (INDIANAPOLIS) — Health care workers are five times more likely to experience an injury due to workplace violence than workers in other industries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the actual total could be as much as three times higher given the likelihood that most incidents are never formally reported.

That’s why the Indiana Hospital Association is encouraging Hoosiers to recognize June 6 as Hospitals Against Violence Day—a National Day of Awareness launched in 2016 to combat workplace violence.

In conjunction with IHA’s efforts, Indiana Governor Mike Braun issued a proclamation to recognize Hospitals Against Violence Day, calling out the severe consequences that violence inflicts upon the entire health care system, making it more difficult for nurses, doctors, and other clinical staff to provide quality patient care.

This troubling trend has seen an uptick in incidents here in Indiana and around the world.

The International Association for Healthcare Safety and Security’s 2023 Healthcare Crime Survey reports that incidences of simple assault per 100 hospital beds went up 105.6% over a ten-year period, and has steadily grown, particularly from 2020 through 2022.

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“Simply put—any acts of violence cannot be tolerated. Our caregivers dedicate their lives to healing others and deserve a workplace where they feel safe and secure while performing their lifesaving duties,” said Larry Tracy, President of Memorial Hospital in South Bend, which is part of Beacon Health System, and Chair of IHA’s Council on Quality and Safety. “We welcome and appreciate Gov. Braun issuing this proclamation and standing with all Hoosier hospitals to help prevent further violence.”

Hospitals throughout the state are raising awareness so residents understand how violence can impact the care they receive in any health care setting and in any community, large or small. The key to responding to violence is in preparation, training and reporting.

“Workplace violence can take many forms – and can happen anywhere in our buildings, whether it’s in the emergency department or on a patient floor,” said Jennifer Hendrickson, Emergency Operations and Safety Manager for Reid Health in Richmond, which experienced a nearly four-hour lockdown in April in response to an active shooter threat.

The threat was eventually determined to not be on campus, allowing operations to resume while a lockdown remained in place, yet the team at Reid demonstrated the importance of its proactive training and other safety protocols put in place by the hospital.

“At Reid Health, we’re fortunate to have the support of our administrative team as we implement a workplace violence prevention program,” said Hendrickson. “This is a marathon, not a sprint. It can’t be viewed as just the latest trend. It requires a lot of attention and support to maintain, and hospital leadership must be involved.”

Crissy Lough, Risk, Regulatory, and Patient Safety Officer and Associate CNO at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis, said violence in their health care facility has also increased in recent years at a steady rate.

“The stress of the pandemic exhausted our staff and they cannot continue to be assaulted either physically or verbally,” Lough said. “Promoting the reporting of each incident lets our team know they shouldn’t have to endure that to work, and we will continue to stand beside them.”

Eskenazi Health pays close attention to the environments at all its locations. Patients and visitors go through the metal detectors, and if circumstances warrant it, are scanned using a handheld device, while personal items and bags are sent through an X-ray machine. They have also added facility lighting, security cameras, and panic buttons, and cut back tall grasses in parking areas.

Security enhancements such as these are crucial—as is proactive training for employees, Lough said.

While hospitals like Eskenazi, Reid, and Memorial have extensive protocols to detect and deter violence, the daily toll on employees can be immense, causing burnout and turnover, while preventing staff from providing the best possible care to patients.

Adding to the already high cost of care, the toll carries a hefty price tag for hospitals.

A new report released this week by the American Hospital Association estimates providers spent $14.65 billion in 2023 responding to workplace violence in health care facilities nationwide, and an additional $3.62 billion to prepare for acts such as assault, homicide, suicide, and firearm violence.

Ensuring a ‘Safe and Sound’ Environment for Staff and Patients

Beyond Hospitals Against Violence Day, the Indiana Hospital Association is continuing to lead efforts throughout the year with its Safe and Sound workplace safety initiative, led by Laurie Gerdt, IHA Quality and Patient Safety Advisor.

“The public doesn’t usually see the physical and verbal abuse our health care workers endure on a day-to-day basis,” said Gerdt. “We have to continue the conversation that our hospitals do not stand for aggressive behavior and address it head-on.”

Launched in 2023, this comprehensive violence prevention program aims to increase public understanding of the problem of workplace safety and violence, improve data collection and analyzation of workplace safety perceptions and events to assess and mitigate risk, and provide training for members.

Statehouse Response to Health Care Worker Safety

The initiative also hopes to gain legislative traction to support health care worker safety.

Indiana law currently provides an enhanced penalty for battery committed against certain licensed health care professionals and any staff member of an emergency department in a hospital. During the 2025 legislative session, Senate Bill (SB) 419 , authored by Sen. Cyndi Carrasco (R-Indianapolis), sought to expand those protections and apply them to acts of violence and verbal intimidation against all health care workers.

Members of the Indiana Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee voted 7-1 in favor of SB 419, and it was approved by the full Senate 42-7. However, the bill did not move forward in the House of Representatives.

“Given the continued rise in violence in health care, and not just in emergency departments, we hope to see these provisions considered again next year by both chambers,” said Tracy, who testified in support of SB 419 in February. “More needs to be done to hold those who commit violence accountable for their actions.”

The stakes for caregiver safety could not be higher as Hendrickson from Reid Health pointed out—”Essentially, safe caregivers provide better patient care.”

Evansville, IN – ECHO Housing & Community Development and the JD Sheth Foundation are proud to announce Meena’s Place, a transformative new project to provide transitional housing for women exiting emergency shelter, such as the House of

Bread and Peace. Located just across the street from the shelter, Meena’s Place will offer a stable, trauma-informed, and supportive environment for women continuing their journey from crisis to stability.

With a goal of raising $300,000, the project will rehabilitate and remodel an existing ECHO-owned home to create a shared-living space for up to four women at a time. This newly designed home will provide up to 24 months of safe, structured housing, individualized case management, life skills coaching, employment support, and access to essential health and recovery services.

“Too often, women who’ve made the courageous decision to seek help are left without a next step. Meena’s Place changes that,” says Savannah Whicker, CEO of ECHO. “This project reflects our shared commitment to honor women’s resilience and meet them where they are—with care, dignity, and support.”

Meena’s Place is uniquely positioned to fill a critical gap in Evansville’s housing continuum. Many women exiting emergency shelter still face complex challenges—such as chronic health conditions, income instability, trauma recovery, and limited social support. Without transitional options, they risk returning to unsafe environments or even homelessness.

This project ensures that vulnerable women are not left behind. Instead, they will have the time, structure, and resources necessary to heal, stabilize, and prepare for permanent housing and long-term success.“Meena’s Place is more than just a house—it’s a promise,” says Jaimie Sheth, CEO and Founder of the JD Sheth Foundation. “We believe that every woman deserves the opportunity to rebuild her life in a space that nurtures hope, confidence, and self-worth.”

The home will undergo extensive rehabilitation to address aged infrastructure and reconfigure the floorplan for shared living. Supporters may contribute through either JD Sheth Foundation or ECHO Housing, with all proceeds going directly toward this renovation and launch effort.

To support Meena’s Place, visit:

Donate

https://www.jdshethfoundation.org/donate

Every dollar helps create safety, stability, and possibility for the women who need it most.

For more information about Meena’s Place visit: https://echohousing.org/meenas-plac

GAVEL GAMUT

By Jim Redwine

www.jamesmredwine.com

(Week of 09 June 2025)

AN ANNIVESARY

Just over one hundred years ago (June 1921), what historians consider one of the worst incidents of White on Black racial violence occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma. An entire Black business district and many Black owned residences were destroyed by White vigilantes. Approximately 300 Negro citizens were murdered. The matter was omitted from official historical records until 2001. As a student in Oklahoma public schools from 1950-1961, I never heard of this event. It is now being included in school curricula. I recently was doing research for this column when I referred to a book, The Oklahoma Story, by former Oklahoma University Professor of History Arrell Morgan Gibson (1921-1987). In an informative and interesting book on the history of Oklahoma published in 1978, there is no mention of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre even though Professor Gibson does include Oklahoma’s history of segregation and racial prejudice.

For example, the book points out that the first Legislature of Oklahoma formally adopted legal segregation of public schools, public transportation, public toilets, water fountains and other facilities. While I have never forgotten living in a culture steeped in Jim Crow formal and societal expected segregation, Gibson’s book sharpened my memories and caused me to return to my frequently sublimated curiosity about America’s caste systems. One of my most difficult father/son experiences I had was attempting to explain the apartheid of my youth to my son who could not comprehend the incomprehensible. It is difficult to explain what one does not understand. I approached our numerous conversations about Jim Crow by relating my personal experiences with it. Of course, my experiences remained almost as mysterious to me as they were to my young son.

I had no explanation for why White society used its majority power to keep Blacks, what we called Coloreds, at a distance and a disadvantage. Why was the water from a White’s only public fountain better than that from a Colored fountain when they were both connected to the same source only a couple of feet apart? What difference did it make if Colored waste was separated at a commode when the sewers claimed both? And why was it okay for Coloreds to pay White restaurant owners for food to go but it was illegal for Coloreds to sit at the counter? What was so vile about Colored bodies that they could not ride in the White only seats? Most puzzling of all was what was so sinful about Colored Christianity that it could not be expiated along with White sin on Sunday?

Well, Gentle Reader, if you did not live under apartheid, this probably makes no more sense to you than it did to my son, or frankly, to me. On the other hand, I do wonder if we still have far to go as a society when it comes to race, or religion or gender or…. I also wonder if such public spectacles as the Sean Diddy Combs trial would be the titillating social phenomenon it is if the participants were White. Does America still suffer from a 400-year-old need to keep Black culture in a separate category from White?

Have we progressed or have we found ways to assuage our prejudice with bemusement? Even our President appears to fear that any recognition that America has need to make reparations is somehow morally wrong. As for that conversation with my son who now has children of his own, well, his daughter’s best friend is Black. However, the better news is, I do not think either his daughter or her friend knows there is a distinction.

For more Gavel Gamut articles go to www.jamesmredwine.com