Every 38 minutes in a Massachusetts healthcare facility, someone – most likely a clinician or employee – is either physically assaulted, endures verbal abuse, or is threatened.

The consequences cannot be ignored. Due in part to the trauma brought on by violence and harassment, healthcare professionals are choosing to leave the field and sever their exposure to harm. And they are exiting at a time when an estimated 19,000 full-time vacancies already exist across hospitals and when capacity pressures remain historically high. Abusive incidents do more than harm those who have devoted their careers to saving lives; they affect access to compassionate, timely care for patients in need.

The healthcare community is committed to addressing the issue of healthcare violence and is devoting extensive time, training, and resources to confront it.

Given the disturbing escalation of incidents in facilities across the nation, the members of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA) are issuing an urgent call for additional support from the general public. In doing so, they have endorsed a common set of principles to be adopted across their Patient and Visitor Codes of Conduct and are continuing to advocate for statewide solutions to the problem as the new legislative session begins.

A Call to Action – MHA Workplace Violence Report Download