Union nurses at UPMC Altoona say hospital leaders aren’t doing enough to improve safety after a patient care technician was attacked and injured in the emergency department earlier this month.
Speaking Wednesday to other hospital employees and reporters, Jaime Balsamo said UPMC hasn’t yet implemented any of their suggestions, like adding more security workers, giving nurses security alarms and adding more metal detectors.
“The only area where UPMC has signaled agreement is including workplace violence to our monthly agenda for our labor management meetings," Balsamo said. "So, in other words, they have agreed to more talk.”
To further pressure UPMC, nurses are organizing a community vigil across from the hospital on December 1.
Since the attack in the emergency department, UPMC offered mental health professionals to talk with employees. In an emailed statement to WPSU, a UPMC spokesperson said they've made hundreds of safety upgrades at the Altoona hospital this year:
"Including de-escalation and workplace violence prevention training, signage reinforcing our zero-tolerance policy, panic buttons, secure rooms, active drills, expanded public safety and police officer presence, limited access points and additional entrance technologies such as metal detectors," the spokesperson said. "We have dedicated UPMC police and security officers at key entry points and throughout the hospital, including the Emergency Department, at all times. They operate screening technology, including a metal detector, and are ready to immediately support our teams whenever concerns arise."
There is only one security officer in the emergency department, and they are stationed at the entrance with the metal detector. UPMC Altoona and Bedford's president said police responded "within seconds" when Travis Dunn was attacked. He had to be taken to Pittsburgh because of brain bleed, a fractured skull and other injuries.
Last week, union workers at UPMC Altoona launched a statewide petition calling on UPMC and other health systems to invest in safe staffing and security measures.
