June 23, 2025 – The American Hospital Association (AHA) recently released a comprehensive report that measures the substantial financial resources hospitals and health systems spend on preventing and responding to violence in their facilities and communities. The report was prepared for the AHA by Harborview Injury and Prevention Research Center (HIPRC), part of the University of Washington School of Medicine. It analyzed the financial costs and broader impacts of violence and threatening behavior and found that the total financial cost of violence to hospitals in 2023 was estimated at $18.27 billion. These costs include healthcare treatment for victims, security staffing for healthcare facilities and violence prevention programs/ training, among other costs.
To help provide additional protections for hospital workers, the AHA strongly supports the Save Healthcare Workers Act (H.R. 3178/S.1600). Introduced last month, this bipartisan legislation would make it a federal crime to assault a hospital worker on the job.
It is an unacceptable reality that those who dedicate their lives to healing should face the threat of violence. We know the enormous human and emotional toll violence takes on our communities and caregivers. This report goes beyond that to break down the significant related financial costs incurred upon hospitals and health systems. With the increase in violent events within clinical settings across the country, the resources needed to protect hospital workers and care for victims have grown exponentially. Every member of the health care team bears an enormous risk and burden of this violence. This report is yet another reminder we must do more to protect them.
AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack
Researchers derived the cost estimates from both pre-event violence prevention measures and post-event costs for health care and addressing the consequences of violence both in the community and in the hospital setting. Key findings from the report include:
- Post-event costs including health care costs to treat victims, infrastructure repairs and staff productivity losses were estimated at $14.65 billion.
- Pre-event efforts to prevent or protect hospital workers from violent events including violence prevention programs, training, technology and facility security investments accounted for an estimated $3.62 billion.
- The total annual financial cost of violence to hospitals in 2023 is estimated at $18.27 billion ($14.65 billion post-event + $3.62 billion pre-event).
Not included in the total annual financial cost of violence but highlighted in the report are the cascading effects of violence on workers and communities. These effects include psychological harm to those who experience or witness violence, challenges in staff recruitment and retention, and reduced job satisfaction. In 2022, an estimated 16,990 workers in hospitals had a violence-related nonfatal occupational injury or illness that required days away from work. Another study estimated 8,740 hospital workers had days of required restricted work activity or job transfer due to violence-related occupational injury or illness.
A Comprehensive Assessment of Financial Costs and Other Impacts of Workplace and Community Violence is available from AHA.
