Well, it has happened again. Another healthcare worker has been gunned down at a hospital in the US.
https://www.wvtm13.com/article/shooting-dch-hospital-tuscaloosa-suspect-police/71286213
The hospital where this tragedy took place…
Posted this heartfelt video yesterday in which the CNO and CMO expressed grief over the “unimaginable” loss. The CEO posted a message on the hospital website stating that the hospital would now begin escorting staff to their cars.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1911236480279629
I know a lot about murder on hospital campuses. In 2014, one of my employees was gunned down at the Rockwood Cancer Center at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane, Washington. I have been writing and speaking about the epidemic of violence at hospitals ever since.
First of all, the shooting in Alabama was not “unimaginable”. It should have been anticipated. Why?
Shootings in healthcare settings and violence against healthcare workers overall is very common — and rising.
How common are hospital shootings?
A major 2026 review in JAMA Network Open identified:
Hospital-based shootings: roughly 150–160 incidents in the U.S. since 2000
About 6–10 shootings per year nationally on average
Incidents increased after 2005, though they fluctuate year to year
Most hospitals will never experience a shooting, but large systems now routinely train for active shooters because the events, while rare, can be catastrophic.
How often are doctors and nurses shot?
There is no perfect national database specifically tracking physicians and nurses shot on duty. However:
Healthcare worker fatal shootings are rare relative to the size of the workforce.
The much larger problem is nonfatal violence: assaults, threats, punches, bites, spitting, and attacks with objects.
The U.S. healthcare workforce includes over 20 million workers, so fatal shootings of clinicians remain statistically uncommon. But healthcare workers experience workplace violence at extraordinarily high rates.
Workplace violence statistics
Healthcare is actually one of the most violent professions in America in terms of workplace assaults.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Healthcare/social service workers accounted for nearly 73% of all nonfatal workplace violence injuries causing missed work in private industry during 2021–2022.
Nurses experience workplace violence at rates higher than police officers in some surveys.
Up to one-third of healthcare workers report physical violence at work.
Who commits the violence?
In hospitals, perpetrators are usually:
Patients
Family members
Visitors
Occasionally disgruntled employees or domestic partners
Common contributing factors:
Psychiatric illness
Substance intoxication
Dementia/delirium
Emotional distress/grief
Long wait times or perceived poor care
Highest-risk areas
Violence is concentrated in:
Emergency departments
Psychiatric units
ICUs
Trauma centers
Parking lots and entrances
Risk to physicians vs nurses
Nurses generally experience:
More physical assaults
More verbal abuse
More frequent threats
This is largely because nurses spend more continuous bedside time with patients and families.
Emergency physicians, psychiatrists, and EMS personnel are also considered particularly high-risk specialties/settings.
Perspective
So:
Hospital shootings: not rare and increasing enough to demand change in hospital security culture.
Violence against healthcare workers overall: extremely common and now considered a major occupational hazard in medicine.
This is now job #1 for all helathcare CEOs. It’s YOUR responsibility!
