Contact: Maya Polon, maya@paschalroth.com
Maria Elena Jauregui, Spanish-language, 818.355.5291
Hal Weiss, weissh@seiu121rn.org, 213.247.4585

Sacramento, CA – Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in California applauded Governor Newsom today for signing AB 2975, the Secure Hospitals for All Act, and expressed deep appreciation to Assemblymember Mike Gipson for his leadership in authoring this vital worker and patient safety legislation.

AB 2975 will bolster security in California’s hospitals by requiring the installation of weapon detection systems at key points where weapons are known to enter facilities, including main public entrances, as well as entrances to the Labor and Delivery and Emergency Departments. Additionally, the bill requires that hospitals utilize appropriately trained personnel — not healthcare workers — to conduct searches of patients’ belongings for contraband. SEIU members who work in hospitals have championed this commonsense policy to reduce the potential for life-threatening workplace violence in hospitals, which has steadily increased in recent years.

“When two nurses were brutally stabbed at Encino Hospital Medical Center in 2022—amid a distressing rise in attacks against healthcare workers—we knew we had to act to keep dangerous weapons out of our hospitals, ” said Leo Perez, RN, President of SEIU Local 121RN and Executive Board Member of SEIU California. “By signing AB 2975 today, Governor Newsom is taking a critical step toward ensuring our hospitals are safer for workers and our patients, so that we can continue to focus on wellness and healing for everyone who comes through our doors.”

Healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than those in other professions; 75% of annual workplace assaults occur in healthcare settings, and workplace violence in hospitals is at an all-time high, up 5% in 2023.