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Hillemeier and Berini provide update on workplace safety initiatives

As the campus of the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center continues on its journey to become a high-reliability organization focused on safety, one area of ongoing focus has been development of strategies for preventing workplace violence. Nothing is more critical to the missions of the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine than the safety and well-being of its employees and learners.

Many employees may be familiar with a few of the initiatives underway related to security on the Hershey campus. This work has been completed by a variety of interprofessional teams and stakeholder groups over a number of years with a goal of maximizing the safety of the faculty, staff and students. A few of the initiatives already in place include:

  • Increased number of security officers on the Hershey campus
  • Enhanced communication with patients about behavioral expectations toward staff, including highly visible signage in patient care areas and patient materials
  • Reporting and tracking of verbal or physical assault in the Midas Quality and Patient Safety system

Dr. Craig Hillemeier, dean, CEO, and senior vice president for health affairs, and Deborah Berini, Hershey Medical Center president, highlighted several upcoming projects related to workplace safety on the Hershey campus in an email sent to all employees:

  • Contracting with an external security firm to evaluate vulnerabilities on campus, including the College of Medicine facilities and also at outpatient clinics
  • Additional Medical Center and College of Medicine staff training opportunities in crisis prevention and de-escalation techniques
  • Development of patient risk-assessment tools to identify potentially violent patients
  • Formation of a Behavioral Response Team to respond to patients with escalating behavior and to prevent violence or abuse
  • Evaluation of additional locations for emergency response alarms, such as employee duress buttons
  • Additional tools to enable security staff to address the safety and security needs of Hershey Medical Center’s large, busy, residential campus

Starting on Sunday, Nov. 4, a select group of specially trained security officers on the Hershey campus will be armed, depending on their role and their training, with defensive tools that include firearms, Tasers and pepper gel. The work to implement this armed security initiative began in January 2018 based on an evaluation of the challenges that present on a daily basis and the complex dynamics of the health care environment.

Incorporating armed security officers into the overall security presence in Hershey is one piece of a comprehensive strategy to align the practice with the highest standards in the health care industry and reduce the Hershey campus’s vulnerability to people intent on causing serious bodily harm or threats to life—whether in a patient care area, a research lab, a classroom or an on-campus apartment.

Employees can learn more by attending one of the employee town hall meetings or by reaching out to their manager.

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