This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA.
Healthcare workers at Highland and throughout the Bay Area were shocked to learn of the stabbing death of a social worker at a San Francisco General Hospital clinic earlier this month. Although SF General administrators are now agreeing to implement some improved safety measures, workers are horrified that a beloved coworker had to die to get the changes they had been demanding for years. During contract negotiations in 2024, the nurses’ union had proposed more security guards, cameras, and metal detectors, all of which were denied during the bargaining process.
Unfortunately, Highland workers know that it would not be impossible for a similar security breach to happen at our own hospital. On multiple instances, nurses have found weapons in patient belongings, despite the metal detector at the emergency room entrance. Although management talks about their commitment to safety, our entire workplace violence education consists of nothing more than clicking through online modules.
Many research studies have shown that insufficient staffing and long patient wait times are major factors in the rates of workplace violence. This is gravely concerning to AHS workers as ongoing layoffs inevitably lead to critical levels of short-staffing in the upcoming year. No one should feel unsafe at work, and management needs to step up and ensure that our safety is their highest priority.
Click here to read the article printed in the 12-17-25 Healthcare Newsletter
