Saturday marks a year since two nurses and a doctor were stabbed at Encino Hospital Medical Center, but hospital employees say more needs to be done to protect them.
The nurses’ union, SEIU Local 121RN, held a press conference and rally Friday to call for more safety measures like security guards and metal detectors, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
The union says in the 364 days since the then 35-year-old Ashkan Amirsoleymani allegedly stabbed hospital employees and then barricaded himself in the facility, nurses were promised more security and support.
“Even before the attack on our emergency department, nurses were calling for more security,” Gloria Mateos, an emergency room nurse at the hospital, told the Daily News. “That incident should have woken them up.”
“Hospitals have become soft targets,” Monique Hernandez, who works at the facility, said during the rally. “Some hospitals do better than others by having enough security, training, metal detectors and other ways to intercept and deescalate before a situation becomes too dangerous, but even after this horrendous attack, do you think this hospital is one of them? No.”
One of the nurses who was injured in the attack told KTLA that she no longer works in the ER, where she long feared they would be the target of an attack.
“We were worried about this for a long time,” the nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “We were waiting for this to happen.”
In a statement to KTLA, a hospital spokesperson said “Encino Hospital Medical Center is committed to making our hospital a safe place for care.”
The statement, which highlights Healthgrades’ awarding the hospital a “2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award,” adds that EHMC has “developed and implemented safety-centric programs and we continuously provide safety-related trainings and education for all staff and physicians.”
“Above all, we recognize the bravery and courage of our staff who tirelessly care for our patients, families, and communities every day,” the statement said.
The nurses dispute that assertion.
“The fact is that the hospital never listened,” Mateos told the Daily News. “Even now, they brush us to the side when we offer solutions.”