Health Care Workers Deserve Stronger Protections

Congress should enact the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act (H.R. 7961), AONL CEO and American Hospital Association (AHA) CNO Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, and AHA CEO Rick Pollack wrote in an op-ed published earlier this week in The Hill. Sponsored by Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), the bipartisan bill is modeled after protections for aircraft and airport workers. The legislation would make it a federal crime for anyone to assault or intimidate a hospital employee during the course of performing their duties, interfere with the performance of their duties, or attempt to do so. “Through the SAVE Act, Congress can protect patients by safeguarding the workers who are there to save them,” Begley and Pollack wrote. (The Hill op-ed, 8/2/22)