House committee reviews H.259 to require hospital workplace-violence plans and reporting

The Vermont House Committee on Health Care heard a presentation on H.259 on a proposed set of requirements intended to prevent workplace violence at hospitals, including mandated hospital security plans, incident reporting, and changes to budgeting and certificate-of-need rules. Katie, legislative counsel to the committee, walked members through the bill’s text and said it would take effect July 1, 2025.

The bill matters, supporters told the committee, because workplace violence in health care is common and costly: Devin Green of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems said high turnover linked to workplace violence drives substantial recruitment and training costs for hospitals, and that Vermont shows high rates of workplace‑violence injury days compared with other states.

H.259 would add a new section to Title 18 requiring hospitals licensed under the hospital‑licensure chapter to develop and implement a written security plan to prevent workplace violence and manage aggressive behavior. Katie, legislative counsel, said the bill mandates that each hospital create a security‑plan development team that must include direct‑care health care employees, the state’s attorney for the region (the district attorney), and relevant law‑enforcement representatives.

The bill requires a security risk assessment that addresses high‑risk areas including emergency departments and other patient care areas and that is informed…