After more than a decade of stalled attempts, a long-sought bill addressing violence in health care workplaces is finally moving forward on Beacon Hill. On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced the legislation (H 4767), setting it up for a floor vote on Wednesday.
The bill reflects a joint effort by the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and the 1199SEIU union. It would require health care employers to create comprehensive violence-prevention programs while adding new criminal and privacy protections for workers.
The committee approved the bill 31-0, a sign that it is likely headed to the Senate.
A summary of the bill notes that someone in a Massachusetts health care facility is assaulted, threatened, or verbally abused every 38 minutes.
Under the legislation, every health care employer must conduct annual, facility-specific risk assessments in coordination with employees and union representatives. They would also need written prevention plans outlining mitigation strategies, employee training, incident debriefings, and crisis-response programs.
For the first time, employers would have to report all workplace violence incidents each year to the Department of Public Health and regional district attorneys. The data would be publicly available by occupation and type of incident. Employers who fail to comply could face civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation, and workers would be protected from retaliation.
The bill also strengthens criminal penalties for assaulting health care workers. Assault causing bodily injury could result in up to five years in prison, while serious bodily injury could lead to up to ten years.
The measure is advancing as lawmakers also move forward with another bill (S 2697) expanding protections for public transit workers. That bill extends assault and battery protections to employees of the MBTA, commuter rail, and regional transit authorities, with penalties ranging from 90 days to 2.5 years in a house of correction or fines of $500 to $5,000.
The health care coalition testified earlier this year that intentional assault and battery is currently treated as a misdemeanor — a classification they say fails to reflect the severity or frequency of the violence.
“What happens every 36 minutes in a Massachusetts hospital?” asked MHA President and CEO Steve Walsh during the hearing. “It isn’t a lifesaving procedure or a new technology. It’s the assault of one of our workers every 36 minutes.”
A key addition in the Ways and Means version is guaranteed paid leave for health care workers directly employed by a facility who suffer bodily injury due to workplace violence. These workers would receive paid leave without using sick, vacation, or personal time — a protection advocates say is crucial for recovery or legal proceedings. Earlier versions capped this leave at seven days within a 12-month period.
The bill also adds privacy protections allowing victims who work in hospitals or belong to unions to use their workplace or union address on court documents instead of their home address.
It further requires a statewide report from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security on alternatives to involving the criminal justice system for high-acuity behavioral health patients, with recommendations for confidential, non-arrest pathways.
In April, lawmakers emphasized the need to balance worker protections with concerns about criminalizing patients in crisis. Sen. John Cronin highlighted that the bill’s penalties apply only when a perpetrator “knowingly and intentionally” commits assault, calling it “really clear” and appropriately balanced.
Walsh said the coalition worked to protect workers while avoiding punishment for individuals unable to form intent.
Concern over workplace violence in health care has surged. A Beacon Research poll in May found nearly seven in 10 nurses described violence and abuse as a serious problem — up five points from last year and 27 points from March 2021.
For many advocates, Wednesday’s anticipated vote is the closest the Legislature has come to passing protections they have sought for 16 years. During April testimony, Dr. Joseph Kopp, an emergency physician at Faulkner and Brigham and Women’s hospitals, urged lawmakers to push the bill forward.
“Please, I’m asking for you to be our champions,” he said.
With the bill now headed to debate, lawmakers are poised to decide whether this rare alignment among labor, nurses, and hospital executives is enough to finally bring the measure through the House.
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