Requires hospitals to develop a violence prevention program

Violence prevention for healthcare workers and patients

The law requires New York general hospitals and nursing homes to create programs protecting workers, patients, residents, and visitors from violence. The law takes effect 280 days after enactment; facilities must establish their programs within the following 12 months. Hospital programs must follow federal safe-care and emergency-preparedness rules, plus applicable accreditation standards comparable to The Joint Commission’s workplace violence standards. Starting January 1, 2027, general hospitals must assess workplace safety at least annually and develop plans addressing violence risks. Reviews must fit each hospital’s size, complexity, and local conditions. They must consider incident records, worker and patient concerns, visitor complaints, and input from recognized union representatives where applicable. Reviews must also examine building access, visitor management, alarms, communication systems, safety equipment, and other protective measures. Plans must identify ways to reduce risks, such as training, staffing, security, barriers, lighting, or alarms. Hospitals must give employees and recognized union representatives detailed written plan summaries and tell employees how to report incidents. Safety or security committees must receive incident summaries and trends, with private information removed as needed. Hospitals must use that data in ongoing violence reviews. Nursing homes can satisfy these requirements through the cited federal safety rules when their reviews and plans address workplace violence. General hospitals in a city or county with at least 1 million people must keep at least one off-duty law enforcement officer or trained security worker in the emergency department at all times. Emergency circumstances allow staffing adjustments to that requirement. Below the 1 million population threshold, hospitals must keep at least one such person on hospital grounds at all times. That person must have direct responsibility for the emergency department, with priority given to being nearby or inside it. Critical access, sole community, and rural emergency hospitals in these smaller areas are exempt. If the health commissioner finds increased violence or abuse against their emergency department staff, based on internal or law enforcement reports, compliance becomes required. The commissioner must coordinate with affected hospitals and allow a reasonable period to comply.