In the near future, we plan to introduce legislation that would create a Hospital Security Grant Fund that will make competitive grant funding available to hospitals in Pennsylvania to harden facilities and to make them more secure in order to protect our healthcare workers, patients, first responders and members of the public.
 
Even before the deadly shooting at UPMC Memorial in York on February 22, 2025, hospitals have been increasingly focused on rising security concerns.  Healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than employees in other industries, and they account for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence, according to federal government reports.
 
A hospital should not be a place where individuals are in danger but rather serve as a safe haven for healing and treatment.  Emergency rooms and hospitals can be a place of great turmoil and emotion, with accidents, illness and trauma, drug and alcohol abuse, family and personal disputes and so forth.  
 
The ability for our hospitals to make investments related to metal detectors, weapons screening devices, surveillance equipment, K-9 units, de-escalation training, vulnerability assessments and other security measures can assist with the prevention and deterrence of senseless acts of violence in hospitals.  Priority consideration will be given to facilities that are located in rural or medically underserved locations.
 
Our proposal would be modeled after Act 83 of 2019 which enacted the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund in the wake of the Tree of Life mass shooting.   The newly enacted Hospital Security Grant Fund would likewise be administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency (PCCD).  The School Safety & Security Grant Program is also administered by PCCD.
 
We hope you will join us in co-sponsoring this legislation that help curb instances of violence in our hospitals.