St. Johnsbury hospital seeing increase in emergency room assaults
WCAX
Hospital officials in St. Johnsbury say they’re growing more concerned about violence in the emergency department.
They say there have been at least two incidents in the past two months at the Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital. The most recent happened last week when police say a Lyndonville man assaulted medical staff.
They say violence against health care workers is five times more likely than against workers in other industries, and they say it’s a national problem, too.
The hospital says some staffers are still recovering from the trauma of the event as they work to combat the problem.
“Other patients who were there in the emergency department are you know, fearful. We do all we can to protect ourselves and our patients. I think when these incidents happen, we try to secure environments as much as we can,” said Dr. Ryan Sexton of the NVRH Emergency Department.