A new law protecting healthcare workers and staff will soon go into effect at hospitals across California.
“One second, you know, the patient is sitting there cooperative and the next, they’re taking action,” says ER Director Ryan Stevens at Lompoc Valley Hospital.
Stevens says violence toward healthcare workers is an issue he’s seen repeatedly during his 13 years of experience in the emergency room.
“Staff have always acknowledged the risks of coming to work with this kind of violence that potentially is there on any given day,” Stevens said.
But that could be changing with the statewide passage of Assembly Bill 977 which takes effect in January.
“If somebody intentionally comes in and hurts the staff, that’s who this law is for,” said Lompoc Valley Hospital CEO Yvette Cope.
Incidents inside a hospital will now carry the same punishment for assault of emergency medical professionals on the street — a felony and up to a year in jail. Exemptions are in place for mental illness.
“It is a recognition of the need to protect the people that provide medical services,” said Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch.