Advocacy Issue: SAVE Act

For the past several years, the health care field has experienced a sharp increase in workplace violence. The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant stress on the entire health care system, and in some situations, patients, visitors and family members have attacked health care staff and jeopardized our workforce’s ability to provide care. This rise in workplace violence has shown no indication of subsiding. Hospitals, health systems and their staff support enactment of a federal law that would protect health care workers from violence and intimidation, just as current federal law protects airline and airport workers.

AHA Position

Despite the incidence of workplace violence and its harmful effects on our health care system, no federal law protects health care employees from workplace assault or intimidation. By contrast, there are federal laws criminalizing assault and intimidation against airline employees, and Attorney General Merrick Garland has directed Department of Justice prosecutors to prioritize prosecutions under that statute given the rise in violent behavior on commercial aircraft during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vigorous enforcement of these federal laws creates a safe traveling environment, deters violent behavior and ensures that offenders are appropriately punished. Our nation’s health care workers who have tirelessly helped care for and treat the sick and dying while facing increased violence — especially during the last two years of the pandemic — deserve the same legal protections as airline workers. Congress should enact the bipartisan Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act (H.R. 2584/S. 2768), which provides protections similar to those for flight crews, flight attendants and airport workers.