HAV Update

Hospitals Against Violence (HAV)

Ten Years of Impact: Key Projects 
(2016–2026)

Launched in 2016, the American Hospital Association’s Hospitals Against Violence (HAV) initiative has positioned hospitals and health systems as national leaders in addressing workplace and community violence as a public health issue. Over the past decade, HAV has driven progress through awareness, practical tools, partnerships, advocacy, and field-wide alignment.

KEY PROJECTS

1. Supported Health Systems in Addressing Violence Prevention as a Core Priority
   HAV helped reframe violence as a preventable public health challenge rather than an inevitable risk of care delivery, influencing hospital leadership, boards, and policymakers nationwide.
2. Built public awareness of the challenge of workplace violence through #HAVhope day
   HAV established #HAVhope Day as a national day of awareness, now marking ten years of engagement, bringing together hospitals, clinicians, and community partners to highlight solutions to workplace and community violence.
3. Developed a Unifying Framework for Action
   The Building a Safe Workplace and Community Framework provides hospitals with a shared structure across four domains: risk mitigation, trauma support, culture of safety, and violence intervention. Health systems nationwide use this framework to align policy, operations, and workforce efforts.
4. Delivered Practical Tools, Training, and Resources
   Hospitals Against Violence has developed and disseminated a comprehensive suite of practical tools, evidence‑informed resources, and learning opportunities to help hospitals address violence across diverse settings and communities. Through toolkits, reports, webinars, podcasts, and case studies, AHA has translated emerging research and on‑the‑ground experience into actionable guidance that health systems can adapt to their size, capacity, and local context.
   Examples:
   • The Health Care Leaders’ Guide to Mass Violence Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Mitigation
   • Creating Safer Workplaces: A guide to mitigating violence in health care settings
   • Mitigating Targeted Violence in Health Care Settings
   • The Burden of Violence to U.S. Hospitals: A Comprehensive Assessment of Financial Costs and Other Impacts of Workplace and Community Violence
   • Creating Safer Workplaces: A guide to mitigating violence in health care settings
   • Boardroom Brief: How Boards Contribute to a Safe Workplace and Community
   • Facility Safety and Security in Health Care (virtual convening)
   • Under Threat: Stopping Violence Against Health Care Workers (podcast)
   • De-escalating Workplace Violence in Behavioral Health Settings (podcast)
   • A Proactive Approach to Workplace Violence (podcast)
5. Advanced Violence Prevention Efforts Through Strategic Partnerships
   Over the past decade, Hospitals Against Violence has served as a national convener, partnering with a wide range of health care, workforce, public health, safety, and community organizations to align around shared violence prevention goals. Through these collaborations, AHA has helped reduce fragmentation across the field, elevate consistent evidence‑based strategies, and amplify a unified voice for hospitals addressing workplace and community violence. By coordinating messaging, policy priorities, tools, and best practices, HAV has strengthened collective impact and reinforced hospitals’ role as leaders in prevention, response, and recovery.
   Examples:
   • International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit-1, National Mass Violence Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, AONL, AHRMM, ASHRM, Emergency Nurses Association, Northwell Health Center for Gun Violence Prevention, The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention
6. Partnered with Appropriate Federal Agencies to Assess and Manage Threats
   Thanks to a partnership with the FBI, the AHA was able to share strategies with hospitals and health systems that enable them to manage threats against health care teams. In a podcast with Karie Gibson, Psy.D., unit chief of one of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Units, listeners learned about behavioral threat assessments and their application in the health care field.
7. Implemented Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) Resources to Prevent Targeted Violence
   In partnership with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit-1, the AHA co-developed a leadership guide to prevent targeted violence in health care settings. This guide includes practical, evidence-based tools and strategies, guidance on involving local law enforcement and the FBI into hospital-based BTAM efforts and provides direction on critical training and education for all health care team members.
8. Influenced Policy and Strengthened Advocacy to elevate health worker safety
   HAV elevated workplace violence as a national workforce crisis and supported federal policy efforts to protect health care workers, including advocacy for the Save Healthcare Workers Act.
9. Highlighted Hospital Innovation and Measurable Impact
   Through national case studies, HAV documented hospital-led innovations showing improved trauma support, stronger reporting systems, enhanced staff wellbeing, and safer care environments.
   Examples:
   • How Hospital Sisters Health System Used the AHA Framework to Strengthen Workplace Safety
   • Security Measures Elevated at Norton Children’s Hospital
   • Changing Perceptions About Safety Event Reporting at Advocate Aurora Health
   • Strict Entry Procedures at St. Joseph’s Hospital of Buckhannon in W.Va.
   • Building a Culture of Safety with Peer-to-Peer Support at CHI Health
   • Proactive Training at Children’s Hospital of Orange County
   • Heightened Vigilance at MLK Jr. Community Healthcare
   • The Power of Signage at Piedmont Healthcare
   • Creating Safer Workplaces: Safety Strategies that Worked Compendium
10. Stakeholder Partnerships with the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL)
    Through a partnership with AONL and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), the AHA introduced the Guiding Principles for Mitigating Violence in the Workplace resource. The guide was also accompanied by a second resource, the Toolkit for Mitigating Violence in the Workplace, that helps health leaders assess their risks, develop a prevention program, and more. 

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