Although hospital related rather than specifically dental practice related, an interesting bill that Governor Hochul has signed into law, as Chapter 618 of the Laws of 2025, is A.203-B (Cruz) / S.5294-B (Sepulveda), which requires general hospitals and nursing homes to create a workplace violence prevention program.  A copy of the bill and the Sponsor Memorandum explaining the bill can be read below.

STATE OF NEW YORK

        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          203--B 

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions 

IN ASSEMBLY

                                        (Prefiled)

                                     January 8, 2025                                      

                                      ___________ 

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  CRUZ,  DINOWITZ,  SEAWRIGHT, HEVESI, KASSAY, KELLES, COLTON, EPSTEIN, DAVILA, SANTABARBARA, HAWLEY, MEEKS, ZACCARO, RAGA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said  committee  with  amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospitals to develop a violence prevention program

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assembly, do enact as follows:

  1      Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section

  2    2832 to read as follows:

  3      § 2832. Violence prevention program. 1.   For  the  purposes  of  this

  4    section,  the term "facility" shall mean a general hospital or a nursing

  5    home as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one of this article.

  6      2. Within twelve months of the effective date of this  section,  every

  7    facility  shall  establish a workplace violence prevention program. Such

  8    program in a  general  hospital  shall  be  consistent  with  regulatory

  9    requirements  including  the  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

10    Hospital Conditions of Participation regarding caring for patients in  a

11    safe  setting 42 CFR § 482.13(c)(2), and emergency preparedness 42 CFR §

12    482.15(a) and (d)(1),  and  the  workplace  violence  standards  of  any

13    accrediting organization deemed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

14    Services  under  which  such  hospital  maintains accreditation provided

15    however, such standards are comparable to those established by The Joint

16    Commission. The purpose of such a program shall  be  to  protect  health

17    care  workers,  patients,  facility residents, and visitors. The program

18    shall, at a minimum, include the requirements set forth in this section.

19      3. Beginning January first, two  thousand  twenty-seven,  all  general

20    hospitals  shall conduct, not less than annually, a workplace safety and

 

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                                   LBD00723-06-5

 

 

        A. 203--B                           2

 

  1    security  assessment  and  develop  a  safety  and  security  plan  that

  2    addresses  identified  workplace violence threats or hazards. As part of

  3    the plan, a general hospital shall adopt security measures and policies,

  4    including  personnel  training  policies designed to prevent or minimize

  5    identified workplace violence threats or hazards and protect  employees,

  6    patients,  and  visitors  from aggressive or violent behavior, including

  7    but not limited to, credible threats, assaults, injuries, and deaths. In

  8    conducting the assessment and developing  the  plan,  general  hospitals

  9    shall  ensure  the active involvement of employees, including the recog-

10    nized collective bargaining agent or agents,  if  any,  and  may  do  so

11    through  established general hospital safety and security committees and

12    existing labor management committees.  Nothing  in  this  section  shall

13    diminish,  supplant  or  restrict the rights, privileges and remedies of

14    any employee or collective bargaining  representative  under  applicable

15    law,  rule  or  regulation or under the terms of a collective bargaining

16    agreement.

17      4. The safety and security assessment shall be tailored to  the  size,

18    complexity,  and local geographical factors affecting the general hospi-

19    tal and shall  identify  and  consider  relevant  threats  and  hazards,

20    including  but  not  limited  to workplace violence incident reports and

21    incident logs, concerns or complaints  raised  by  employees,  patients,

22    visitors  and  recognized  collective bargaining representatives, safety

23    and security considerations relating to the  general  hospital's  layout

24    and  access  points,  visitor management, and protective factors such as

25    access control,  engineering  controls  to  limit  violence  or  protect

26    employees, alarms and communication systems, and other relevant factors,

27    as  appropriate  to  the  general hospital. Additionally, the assessment

28    shall consider the adequacy of employee training policies  and  security

29    procedures, including the handling of disruptive or violent patients and

30    other persons. Health care workers regularly assigned to provide securi-

31    ty  in  general hospital settings shall be trained regarding the role of

32    security in overall hospital operations.

33      5. Based on the findings and ongoing review of the workplace  violence

34    assessment, general hospitals shall implement a workplace violence safe-

35    ty  and  security  plan,  which shall be updated as necessary to address

36    newly identified material risks and changes in  conditions.  The  safety

37    and  security  plan  shall  specify  methods to reduce identified risks,

38    which may include employee training, increased  staffing  and  security,

39    engineering  controls  such  as  barriers, lighting, alarms and communi-

40    cation systems,  safety  equipment,  general  hospital  improvements  or

41    modifications,  and  other  appropriate measures relevant to the general

42    hospital. Each general hospital shall provide a written detailed summary

43    of the safety and security plan to its employees and collective bargain-

44    ing representatives, if applicable. Each  general  hospital  shall  also

45    provide information to its employees and collective bargaining represen-

46    tatives,  if  applicable,  about  how  to  report incidents of workplace

47    violence. Each general hospital shall share summaries  of  the  incident

48    log,  appropriately  redacted to protect the privacy of persons involved

49    in an incident, trends and analysis of relevant data  with  the  general

50    hospital security or safety committee responsible for workplace violence

51    and  ensure  that  the data is part of the workplace violence assessment

52    process.

53      6. Notwithstanding any provision of  this  section,  compliance  by  a

54    nursing  home  with  the  federal  regulations  42  CFR 483.71(a)(3) and

55    (b)(1), and 42 CFR 483.73(a)(1), governing nursing homes  shall  satisfy

 

 

        A. 203--B                           3

 

  1    the requirements of this section for such facilities, provided that such

  2    assessments and plans address workplace violence threats and hazards.

 3      §  2.  The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2832-a

  4    to read as follows:

  5      § 2832-a. Emergency department security. 1. A general hospital located

  6    in a city or county with a population of one million or  more  shall  be

  7    required  to  have  at  least  one  off-duty  law enforcement officer or

  8    trained security personnel be present at  all  times  in  the  emergency

  9    department,  subject  to  emergent  circumstance  in  any  hospital that

10    requires an adjustment in personnel.

11      2. A general hospital located in a city or county  with  a  population

12    less  than  one  million shall be required to have at least one off-duty

13    law enforcement officer or trained security personnel on premises at all

14    times in a manner that prioritizes physical  presence  near,  or  within

15    close  proximity  to,  the  emergency  department  of such hospital with

16    direct responsibility to the emergency department. This shall not  apply

17    to  hospitals  designated  as  critical access hospitals, sole community

18    hospitals, or rural emergency hospitals. However, if any  such  hospital

19    experiences increased rates of violence or abuse of emergency department

20    personnel,  by an amount to be determined by the commissioner, evidenced

21    by internal reporting pursuant to the  violence  prevention  program  or

22    reports to law enforcement the commissioner shall work with the critical

23    access hospital, sole community hospital, or rural emergency hospital to

24    come into compliance with the requirement, to have at least one off-duty

25    law enforcement officer or trained security personnel on premises at all

26    times  in  a  manner  that prioritizes physical presence near, or within

27    close proximity to, the  emergency  department  of  such  hospital  with

28    direct  responsibility  to  the  emergency department, over a reasonable

29    period of time.

30      § 3. This act shall take effect on the two hundred eightieth day after

31    it shall have become a law.

 

BILL NUMBER: A203B

      SPONSOR: Cruz

      TITLE OF BILL:

      An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospitals to develop a violence prevention program

      PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

      To require hospitals and nursing homes to establish a violence prevention protection program including the establishment of security personnel in hospital emergency departments to protect from violence and verbal and physical abuse of doctors, nurses and staff who provide critical medical care in such emergency departments.

      SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

      Section 1 of the bill requires hospitals to establish a violence prevention program to require:

      *each hospital shall create such program consistent with the workplace violence standards approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and standards established by the Joint Commission on Health Care Organizations;

      *general hospitals located in a city or county with a population of one million or more shall be required to have at least one-off duty law enforcement officer or trained security personnel be present at all times in the emergency department with consideration of emergent circumstance in any hospital; and

      *General hospitals located in a city or county with a population less than one million shall be required to have at least one off-duty law enforcement officer or trained security personnel on premises at all times in a manner that prioritizes physical presence near, or within close proximity to, the emergency department of such hospital with direct responsibility to the emergency department.  This shall not apply to hospitals designated as a critical access hospitals, sole community hospitals, or rural emergency hospitals.  However, if any such hospital experiences increased rates of violence, as determined by the commissioner of health, or abuse of emergency department personnel evidenced by internal reporting pursuant to the violence prevention program or reports to law enforcement the commissioner shall work with the critical access hospital, sole community hospital, or rural emergency hospital to come into compliance with the requirement, to have at least one off-duty law enforcement officer or trained security personnel on premises at all times in a manner that prioritizes physical presence near, or within close proximity to, the emergency department of such hospital with direct responsibility to the emergency department, over a reasonable period of time.

      JUSTIFICATION:

      Physicians, Nurses, and other healthcare employees are exposed on a daily basis to the potential of assault or other violent situations in the course of their duties.  Assault on the job is one of the most frequent causes of serious injuries in the healthcare industry, and violence is a more common cause of injury than in other industries.  U.S. healthcare workers suffer thousands of workplace violence-related injuries every year that require time away from work for treatment and recovery (i.e., serious injuries).  In a 2022 American College of Emergency Physicians survey of E.R. doctors, 55 percent said they had been physically assaulted, almost all by patients, with a third of those resulting in injuries.  85 percent had been seriously threatened by patients.  The risks can be even higher for E.R. nurses, with over 70 percent reporting they had sustained physical assaults at work.  The 2022 American College of Emergency Physicians survey further found that the incidences of workplace violence in emergency departments contributed to staff shortages due to staff injury, emotional trauma, and anxiety, as well as increased wait times for patients and delay of critical medical care.

      PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

      A.4848 of 2020

      FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

      None.

      EFFECTIVE DATE:

      This act shall take effect two hundred and seventy days after it shall have become a law.