Nearly two-thirds of the aggravated assaults reported on the University of Iowa campus in 2020 happened at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
“Of the 49 aggravated assaults that were reported in 2020, 32 of them occurred at the UIHC,” says Mark Bullock, co-director of the university’s’ public safety department. “We’ve been meeting weekly with UIHC leadership to determine how we’re going to address this long term.”
The hospital’s CEO has recently called the pandemic “an endurance test” for health care workers. Bullock says staff shouldn’t have to endure assaults as they care for sick patients and his department has secured space for a Medical Campus Safety Center and will assign four new officers to provide security at the hospital.
“Simply put, just because you work at 200 Hawkins, you shouldn’t have a lower expectation for safety and we’re doing what we can to address that.”
The hospital is located at 200 Hawkins Drive in Iowa City, next to Kinnick Stadium. Bullock made his comments while briefing the Iowa Board of Regents on the most recent report on campus crime, which covers calendar year 2020. Stats for this year are not yet available.
A hospital in Branson, Missouri, recently provided up to 400 staff members with panic buttons on their employee badges after violent attacks against health care workers there tripled in the past year.