BCH Stands Against Violence With #HAVhope Campaign

This Friday, June 8 is the American Hospital Association national awareness day uniting hospitals, health systems, nurses, doctors and staff from across the country to combat violence through the use of digital media.

Violence in our hospitals is on the rise nationwide. Staff is routinely exposed to volatile patients under the influence of drugs or alcohol or suffering from psychological disorders.

Boulder Community Health is again participating in the campaign with photos of our staff and the #HAVhope hashtag on social media -- providing an important visual demonstration that our health care community stands together with others to combat violence in our workplaces and communities.

Violence is an unfortunate part of our community but BCH leaders are taking steps to mitigate violence across our health system.

Thanks to a BCH Foundation grant, staff have been offered expert training on how to better manage violence, how to recognize at risk, threatening and aggressive behavior, and how to keep themselves safe. Classes are scheduled throughout the year through our internal staff education portal BCH University.

Our gratitude to BCH's Jackie Attlesey-Pries, Vice President of Operations & Chief Nursing Officer and Associate Vice President Holly Pederson for leading the effort on increased staff training.

BCH is also currently sponsoring ongoing “Stop The Bleed” trainings providing violence mitigation and response training for the Boulder community. The classes have been open to the public and enormously popular. BCH also regularly conducts active harmer training and exercises at both our hospitals and all of our clinics.

To date, we’ve run over 50 active harmer exercises system-wide. Our thanks to Chuck Merritt, BCH Director of Safety, Security & Emergency Management for spearheading those initiatives.

#Havhope