After Pennsylvania hospital shooting, expressions of compassion and anger

Pennsylvania hospital leaders have rallied to support UPMC Memorial after the mass shooting last weekend.

Pennsylvania hospital leaders were outraged by the shooting at UPMC Memorial, just outside York. Hospitals in the state have been bolstering security in recent months, even before the shooting.

Nicole Stallings, president and CEO of the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, said healthcare leaders have experienced a wide array of emotions in the days after the shooting.

“We saw a widespread reaction of compassion and also of anger that yet another tragic and senseless incident of violence has happened in one of our hospitals,” she tells Chief Healthcare Executive®.

“The hospital community really shares that commitment to safety for everyone who walks through those doors. And so whenever that is violated and impacted, in the way it was like at UPMC Memorial, the hospital field comes together,” she says.

A police officer, Andrew Duarte, was shot and killed and five other individuals were wounded by gunfire at UPMC Memorial, just outside York, Pennsylvania. Three UPMC staffers - a doctor, nurse and custodian - were shot, along with two other local police officers. Authorities said police killed the shooter, who was holding a UPMC nurse at gunpoint.

The shooter, Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, had contact with the hospital’s ICU days before the shooting in regard to the care of a loved one, authorities said. Archangel-Ortiz took a gun and zip ties into the hospital and held staff hostage, and authorities said efforts to get him to surrender were unsuccessful.

Hospital leaders are especially outraged to see such an attack on people who go to work to help others, Stallings says.

“Healthcare is really a calling, and you enter that field because you want to help people not to be harmed, and you work in settings that are meant to be safe and healing environments,” she says. “And any incident of violence, be it intimidation, cursing, physical violence, or even something targeted, like this incident at UPMC Memorial, it really strikes home. It's very personal. It's very local.”

“It hits home. And violence against anyone on our hospital teams is never acceptable,” she says.

UPMC said in a statement that all of its wounded staff members are out of the hospital and recovering, but the system said there is no timeline on their recovery.

“Our immediate focus has been on supporting our UPMC Memorial team and ensuring they have the support and resources they need at this difficult time,” UPMC said.

The UPMC Memorial tragedy has brought more attention to hospital security. More health systems have been adding weapon detection systems in recent years, and more are likely to add more technology to screen for firearms and other threats, security officials say.

Healthy Bottom Line podcast: More hospitals are adding weapon detection systems

Even before the UPMC shooting, most Pennsylvania hospitals have been taking steps to improve their security, according to a survey from the Pennsylvania hospital group.

The group recently surveyed its members for an upcoming report on the workforce to be released later in March. According to the survey of Pennsylvania hospital leaders, 95% said they have implemented enhanced security measures, while 63% say they are using weapon detection technology, including metal detectors and AI systems. Eight in ten (81%) said they are posting “no tolerance” notices.

The survey also found all respondents (100%) said their hospitals are providing education on safety protocols, while 96% are providing training in de-escalation. Stallings says training to help defuse situations is essential.

“You often enter a hospital when you or a loved one are at their most vulnerable, and we also know that a medical condition or even a reaction to medication can cause uncharacteristic behavior,” she says. “And so while these instances aren't always predictable, we can make sure that our hospital staff have the tools and the training and the support in those moments.”

The hospital association has recently begun holding regional discussions with hospital leaders, law enforcement and prosecutors to discuss ways to collaborate to prevent violence and improve response efforts when attacks happen. The group began convening those discussions late last year.

“We need to ensure that all of these efforts are truly deterrent to violence, and we need partners to do that,” Stallings says.

For the staff at UPMC Memorial, and hospitals across Pennsylvania, the impact of the shooting will linger, and hospital staff are going to continue to need support in the coming weeks and months.

“Any incident like this is going to impact the entire care team and have a long tail with respect to processing, and feeling safe again coming to work, and so leadership across our hospitals are very aware and are offering support,” Stallings says.

“We had a board meeting this week, and started the meeting with this exact conversation, of course, offering our support to our UPMC colleagues, but just acknowledging the effort that's happening across every hospital, the conversations that continuously occur across every hospital, because this is such a priority.”

Pennsylvania has a state law calling for higher penalties for assaulting hospital staff and healthcare workers, similar to laws protecting airline workers. Stallings is hoping to see a federal law protecting healthcare workers nationwide. U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has sponsored bills to create federal protections for hospital staff. Despite the backing of hospitals for those bills, Congress hasn’t passed the legislation.

“We're going to work to get it advanced and introduced and advanced again this term in Congress,” Stallings says.