Located in the southwestern portion of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, within the City of Middleburg Heights, is the metropolitan campus of Southwest General Health Center (SWGHC). Founded in 1920 in response to the pandemic flu outbreak of 1918, today the 350-bed medical hospital is a multi-care facility serving the medical and surgical needs of the citizens representing more than twenty suburban cities of Cleveland, Ohio. On a daily basis there are thousands of people on campus either working or receiving care as a patient. Given the congestion of the campus and the complexity of operations, it is literally a city within another city.
Rarely a dull moment
Charged with safeguarding thousands of staff, visitors and patients of SWGHC, the Protection Services Department consists of 16 full-time Peace Officers who serve more like municipal police rather than private security. According to Protection Services Chief Tristan Harker, "Health Care facilities are unique in terms of their security challenges. My officers have to protect the staff from threats coming in from outside the hospital while at the same time protecting everyone here from other problems occurring within." For example, the hospital (as is typical for medical facilities) serves as the "general intake" for area police departments. Whenever the police arrest a combative subject under the influence of drugs, the officers will take the suspect to SWGHC to be stabilized before taking them to the county jail. Once the violent person arrives, Protection Services Officers (PSOs) are tasked with restraining them so that they will not hurt themselves or others. As a result, "use of force" occurrences are high compared to that of the surrounding police agencies. In 2007, 16 PSOs were involved in 309 physical confrontations in the performance of their duties.
Not immune from crime and violence, just like any other institution, the PSOs are the first responders to any workplace or domestic violence problems occurring on campus. Harker says it is not uncommon for employees to be involved in domestic incidents that spill over into the workplace. When that occurs, his officers respond and invoke protective measures that sometimes results in the offender being detained for arrest by the local police. "Hospitals are sometimes viewed as being soft targets by criminals due to the openness of the campus", Harker says. Recently, his officers broke up a commercial burglary ring that forcibly entered the campus wellness center at 2 AM Thanksgiving weekend. Within minutes, the crew was in the process of removing nearly $7,000 worth of equipment. Their efforts were foiled by an alert Protection Services intern who was on-duty in the dispatch center and observed the theft in progress on CCTV surveillance.
Confluence of legal complexities
Unlike their local police counterparts, PSOs often find themselves simultaneously navigating through competing legal issues at a single incident. For instance, if a patient is brought into the emergency room and found to be in possession of a controlled substance, then the PSO has to contend with upholding the state criminal statutes and rules of evidence while ensuring protected health information remains secure and the requiremenrts of the Patient Bill of Rights are observed. To further complicate matters, PSOs do not have arrest authority under state law, without the express permission of the police where the campus is located. PSOs are tasked with providing a "more than basic police service with less than normal police authority," Chief Harker explained.
Proactive Protection
While it is common for police officers to be response-oriented, "we don't have that luxury," replied Harker.Due to their health condition, hospital patients are more vulnerable to victimization than ordinary people. In order to offset this susceptibleness, Harker has a security sub-committee that is part of the health center's overall safety committee. One of the committee's responsibilities is to conduct risk assessments and review response protocols to address issues ranging from assaults in the emergency department, bomb threats and possible natural disasters (and everything else in-between) that would impact operations of the hospital. The prospect of continuously assessing the abilities of the Protection Services Department is a part of normal operations, and required for hospital accreditation.
There are no absolutes in life, especially when it comes to safety and security. The old adage, "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best" manifests itself into the form of threat and vulnerability assessments, Protection Services Officers and security procedures. The world is a dangerous place. Fortunately, when we are at our weakest due to an illness and inclined to victimization there are those in the health care security profession who ensure that we are safe while in their care receiving treatment.
