Report examines cost of community violence

Community violence cost U.S. hospitals and health systems an estimated $2.7 billion in 2016, according to a new report prepared for the AHA by Milliman. Specifically, the authors found that hospitals and health systems spent $1.1 billion on security and training to prevent violence in hospitals; $852 million caring for victims of violence; $429 million on medical care, staffing, indemnity and other costs related to violence against hospital employees; and $280 million on preparedness and prevention of community violence. “Keeping people healthy is at the heart of health care, and violence runs counter to that,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “It's our hope that quantifying the resources hospitals and health systems commit illustrates the enormity of this issue as a public health problem while giving hospitals the chance to highlight their efforts to keep their communities and workplaces safer.” For more on the report, released at the AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego, visit aha.org/HAVhope.