UPMC Altoona attack spurs demand for enhanced workplace safety

Pennsylvania’s top health care union launched a petition drive Wednesday for improved workplace safety after the beating of a worker at UPMC Altoona hospital last week.

Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania argues the assault of Travis Dunn should be the catalyst for UPMC and other health systems to invest in protecting their employees.

Police say Dunn, a patient care technician, was attacked by Bradley Lloyd, 40, of Tyrone, Blair County as Lloyd attempted to leave the hospital.

The blows to Dunn’s head and face left him with a cracked skull and in need of emergency surgery.

“We are in the direct line of fire, and often face the backlash head on, while executives are safely sitting behind locked office doors,” Kevin Clark, a UPMC Altoona nurse, said in a statement. “We are tired of being ignored and treated like disposable numbers.”

The petition released Wednesday calls for security measures such as metal detectors, more security personnel and panic alarms in every patient care area, as well as better reporting and training on violent incidents.

It will be circulated statewide through email, text and social media and sent to health system executives and elected officials.

UPMC said it has made “hundreds of safety upgrades” this year, including deescalation and workplace violence prevention training, adding panic buttons, secure rooms and metal detectors and holding drills.

“We remain committed to listening, improving and protecting our people,” UPMC said. “Any claim suggesting otherwise ignores the significant progress we’ve made and continue to make alongside our team members.”

High health care violence rates

About one in 700 full-time health care and social assistance workers were attacked on the job between 2021 and 2022 and had to miss work or alter their duties as a result, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That’s nearly five times the rate across all industries.

Incidents can turn deadly. In February, a man stormed into the intensive care unit at UPMC Memorial hospital in York, Pennsylvania and took staff members hostage before being killed in a police shootout.

A police officer died in the incident after being shot in the chest and two others were struck along with a doctor, nurse and custodian. A fourth staffer was injured in a fall.

For every attack, there are countless more threats from patients or their families. More than 80% of health care workers have experienced verbal violence, according to the American Hospital Association, an industry group.

The union claims improved staffing levels — a top issue for health care workers across Pennsylvania — are necessary to protect workers.

A 2024 study published in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety found health care workers face more violence during times of higher patient-to-staff ratios.

“When hospital workers are severely understaffed, they are less able to communicate with patients, de-escalate potentially violent situations or respond to them if they occur, and both patients and family members become more aggravated,” the union said in a press release.

At its Altoona hospital, UPMC has overseen a shrinking number of workers, the union says.

When the health care conglomerate took over the facility in 2013, it had about 2,297 employees, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data. It had 1,433 as of 2023, a 38% decrease over the span of a decade.

Yet, the combined number of days patients spent at the Altoona hospital has held steady year-over-year at roughly 82,000, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Additional data from the agency also show wait times in the emergency room, once better than state and national averages, are now worse than both benchmarks.