By Healthcare Facilities Today

Members of the Washington state Senate recently approved a measure that would increase protections for state hospital workers, according to an article on The Suburban Times website. The bill would increase the penalty for assaulting an employee, contractor, intern or volunteer of a state hospital who was performing his or her official duties to a third-degree crime.

Washington operates three state hospitals for the care of adults and children with mental illness: Western State Hospital and the Child Study and Treatment Center in Lakewood, and Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake. Proponents argue the bill would level the playing field for state hospital employees with every other medical provider in the state.

“State hospital workers deserve the same protections that you or I expect from our judicial system, regardless of the fact that they work in a potentially dangerous environment,” Sen. Steve O’Ban said, “perhaps even more so since they spend every day working closely with these unpredictable individuals.”

Read the article.