When WellSpan Health launched an effort to improve team member safety two years ago, the York, Pa.-based system thoughtfully considered how to start.
Ultimately, the nine-hospital organization, which employs more than 23,000 people, set a first-year goal: to reduce workplace violence injuries resulting in time off work by 5%.
Over the last two years, WellSpan has invested more than $20 million in safety and security enhancements — part of its broader systemwide strategy.
“That’s what we did a couple of years ago, and through a lot of effort and great work — and the hiring of Bill White to be our vice president over [public safety] — many things were put in place to help us achieve that,” Vicky Diamond, senior vice president of WellSpan’s Central Region, told Becker’s.
In a March statement, WellSpan said it uses metal detectors at the emergency department entrance to York Hospital and stations armed, on-duty police officers as hospital resource officers there. Security teams also use handheld wands during periods of heightened alert.
The system also continues to expand Strongline — a real-time incident notification system that allows workers to discreetly request help in threatening situations. As of March, Strongline had been implemented at nearly 200 WellSpan locations, including hospitals.
Mr. White, who has been in his role since 2021, told Becker’s that in addition to those efforts, engagement from Ms. Diamond and other leaders has been beneficial.
Ms. Diamond receives reports from hospital leaders on workplace violence-related and security events occurring in every region, informed by daily huddles with employees.
“When [employees] are involved in these types of incidents, somebody at Vicky Diamond’s level is actually picking up the phone and calling — or one of the leadership teams from the hospital — to say, ‘We understand you were involved in an incident. We care about you,'” Mr. White said. “And that message gets out to the organization. And that helps our workforce understand that we’re taking it seriously, we’re here for you, and we want to do better.”
Overall, these actions have led to a 55% reduction of workplace violence injuries resulting in time off work over the last year.
“We achieved that [initial goal] the first year, and we thought, how could we achieve that again?” Ms. Diamond said. “We set that up for the second year. We absolutely did not set the goal at 55%. We have a commitment to zero harm. But in the rising, challenging environment in which we all work, that’s definitely a difficult goal. Nonetheless, it is our goal. We’re pleased with the 55% reduction.”
She noted that reaching this number involved overcoming challenges to ensure continued progress — including getting employees, who work in stressful environments and may have a level of tolerance for some behaviors, to report and elevate situations earlier so the health system could intervene sooner.
To encourage reporting by workers, the health system deployed de-escalation training.
Depending on their role and location, team members receive anywhere from two to 24 hours of training, Ms. Diamond said.
She also emphasized the importance of data in reaching the 55% reduction — and the importance of staff engagement in building that data.
“[Without] reporting, you can make assumptions about where the potential for violence is going to happen — and we made some assumptions about that,” she said. “But once we started [receiving incident reports], and as we started to continue to collate this, we started to identify points in our organization — whether it be the transition of care, whether it would be off-shifts, whether it would be certain areas — that we were then able to understand and make other interventions.”
For example, interactions with visitors became a consideration.
“We were finding they’re also part of the challenge for our staff,” Ms. Diamond said. “And by understanding that better — putting in visitor management systems, knowing who’s in our building, when — who they are — we at times can prevent someone from going upstairs to the ICU [or another area], when we know they’ve already been problematic.
“And so, it is all of that information coming together and talking and seeing the data. But I would say the visitor management systems that we have in place — and some of the new, enhanced ones that we’ll have in place — have also been a great intervention.”
Earlier this year, the Feb. 22 shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York — which left two dead and five wounded — served as a reminder of the importance of these efforts. Teams at WellSpan York Hospital helped evaluate individuals wounded in the incident.
Following the incident, WellSpan implemented additional security measures, including designating specific entrances and closing others to limit access.
“[The tragedy] reminded us that we should share more about what we’ve done to create a safer environment for our team members,” Ms. Diamond said.
That said, she emphasized that she remains proud of how much the health system has done and continues to do regarding workplace violence prevention.
“When we have visiting nurses who join us, they’re often the first people to tell us — having worked in other organizations — that we have a lot of [enhancements] in place,” she said.
“It speaks to us as an organization — that we’re trying to be a highly reliable quality and safety organization — and safety includes our team members.”
