Section 3727.18 | Hospital security plans.
(A) Each hospital system, and each hospital that is not part of a hospital system, shall establish a security plan for preventing workplace violence. In developing the plan, the hospital system or hospital shall involve a team consisting of members selected by the hospital system or hospital, subject to both of the following:
(1) At least one member of the team shall be a current or former patient of the hospital system or hospital or a family member of such a patient.
(2) At least fifty per cent of the team's total membership shall be comprised of health care employees who provide direct patient care for the hospital system or hospital.
(B) All of the following apply to a security plan established under this section:
(1) The plan shall be based on the results of a security risk assessment, which, in the case of a hospital system, shall be conducted for each hospital in the system. The assessment shall address all high-risk areas of the hospital, including its emergency department and psychiatric department, if the hospital has such departments. The assessment shall be conducted in consultation with the medical and nursing directors of each department or other high-risk area that is assessed. The assessment shall consider any trauma level designation held by the hospital, overall patient volume, psychiatric and forensic patient volume, past incidents of violence against staff and levels of injury resulting from those incidents, rates of crime in the community, and any other data points specified by the team selected under division (A) of this section.
(2) The plan shall include an option for health care employees who provide direct patient care to request a first name only or first name and last initial only identification badge.
(3) The plan shall require at least one hospital employee trained in de-escalation practices to be present at all times in the hospital's emergency department and psychiatric department, if the hospital has such departments. The plan may require at least one such trained employee to be present in other high-risk areas that were identified during the hospital's risk assessment. Additionally, based on the risk assessment, the plan shall address whether hospital police officers, trained security personnel, or off-duty law enforcement officers are required to be present in the hospital's emergency department and psychiatric department, if any, and in other high-risk areas that were identified during the hospital's risk assessment.
(4) The plan shall outline training requirements for security personnel regarding all of the following:
(a) The potential use of and response to weapons;
(b) Defensive tactics;
(c) De-escalation techniques;
(d) Appropriate physical restraint and seclusion techniques;
(e) Crisis intervention;
(f) Trauma-informed approaches;
(g) Safely addressing situations involving individuals who pose a risk of self-harm or harm to others.
(5) The plan shall include guidelines outlining when law enforcement officers, hospital police officers, or trained security personnel, remain with a patient who has demonstrated violence or poses a risk of self-harm or harm to others. The guidelines shall be developed jointly with law enforcement authorities, including hospital police departments, that agree to participate after being invited to participate by the hospital system or hospital.
(C) Each hospital system and hospital that establishes a security plan pursuant to this section shall review and evaluate the plan on an annual basis. In conducting the review and evaluation, the hospital system or hospital shall involve the team selected under division (A) of this section or a successor team that meets the membership requirements described in that division. If it is determined from the review and evaluation that revisions to the plan are required, the hospital system or hospital shall revise the plan accordingly.
(D) All hospital systems and hospitals shall annually, in the form and manner specified by the department of health, attest to the department that the hospital system or hospital has reviewed and, if necessary, updated the security plan.
(E) Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, both of the following are confidential and not public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code:
(1) Security plans developed under this section and their annual revisions;
(2) Information submitted to the department under division (D) of this section.
Last updated April 9, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Available Versions of this Section
- March 22, 2013 – House Bill 62 - 129th General Assembly [ View March 22, 2013 Version ]
- April 9, 2025 – House Bill 452 - 135th General Assembly [ View April 9, 2025 Version ]