Alice Hyde Rolls Out Safety & Security Team
Group will provide 24/7 security coverage in the hospital, throughout Alice Hyde’s Campus and at The Alice Center
Malone, NY (10/7/2024) – Patients, visitors and care teams at University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center are getting a new resource to help identify and deescalate emotional situations while also improving the patient and visitor experience across both of Alice Hyde’s campuses in Malone.
On Monday the hospital introduced a Safety & Security team which will be staffed 24-hours-a-day and provide a wide variety of services to patients and visitors at the hospital, throughout Alice Hyde’s campus and clinics at 133 Park Street in Malone, and residents and visitors at The Alice Center’s campus at 45 Sixth Street in Malone.
“Our number-one goal is always to keep our patients and our people safe while they are with us – whether they are in the hospital, on our campus, at one of our clinics or offices, or at The Alice Center,” said Jerry Dumas, Director of Safety & Security at Alice Hyde. “We have been very fortunate. The violent incidents impacting other health care organizations have not occurred in Malone. Nevertheless, health care workers deal with intense and emotionally-charged situations every day. This group of specially-trained individuals will support both our patients and our people as we continue to respond to nationwide trends impacting health care organizations and caregivers at the bedside.”
Dumas said the 6-officer team, which brings a variety of professional backgrounds to Alice Hyde, will respond to a wide array of situations – from parking and traffic issues on campus to wayfinding assistance and violent, intense or unpredictable situations in Alice Hyde facilities. The security officers are trained in de-escalation techniques as well as spotting agitated individuals and the precursors to aggressive or violent behavior.
“Our team’s first priority is being there to help, whether it’s a parking issue, a lost patient or visitor, or someone who is frustrated or upset,” said Dumas. “Being at the hospital is stressful, and we want members of our community to see our security officers as resources who are there to assist in any way we can.”
The security officers are not armed and do not have the authority to detain individuals, make arrests or file charges. Alice Hyde will continue to work with local law enforcement to address any incidents that require those types of responses.
The launch of the Safety & Security Team on Monday marked the first time in Alice Hyde’s more-than-100-year history that the hospital has employed security offices, and comes amid a years-long, nationwide rise in violence against health care workers.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, a government agency, health care workers are five times more likely to suffer a workplace violence injury; 75% of health care workers say they have experienced violence in the past year, and the vast majority (85%) of physicians say they believe violence has worsened in the last five years.
The phenomenon has broad implications for an industry already troubled by a longstanding workforce crisis, as well as acute shortages of medical professionals and providers in specialty care and little-known clinical roles like phlebotomy and respiratory therapy. More than a quarter of health care workers say they have considered leaving their job because of workplace violence.
In 2023, UVM Health Network launched an effort to “End the Silence on Healthcare Violence,” highlighting employees as they shared their stories and working with law enforcement agencies as well as state and federal lawmakers to address violence against health care workers.