LTU Center Prescribes Hospital Safety Solutions from Triage to Treatment

At Lawrence Technological University, the Healthcare Violence Reduction Center (HVRC) is helping to reduce violence in hospitals through comprehensive, data-driven research. By listening directly to healthcare workers, administrators, and other experts, the center has built a foundation rooted in evidence, collaboration, and urgency.

Goals are to give care workers peace of mind, patients greater comfort, and families more trust in the care their loved ones receive.

Investigating Violence in Emergency Rooms

One of the center’s flagship projects, in partnership with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center, University of Michigan Health-Sparrow and University of Michigan Health-West, examines security incidents inside emergency departments. Importantly, the center does not access individual patient records; instead, it uses de-identified, aggregated data to uncover patterns that could predict and prevent violent encounters.

The findings aim to help hospitals:

• Spot risks sooner.
• Defuse tensions faster.
• Protect staff better.
• Guide interventions.

“There is a tactical reason for focusing on patient-staff violence,” HVRC Director Stacey Frankovich said. “The number of these incidents is much greater than patient-patient or staff-staff violence. To be true to our evidence-based foundation, we need statistically sound representations of what is really happening inside hospitals.”

By analyzing data from both a large trauma center and a smaller community hospital, the center hopes to develop scalable strategies applicable to institutions of every size, from 30-bed rural hospitals to sprawling 1,000-bed urban centers.

Building an Evidence-Based Framework

Currently, the center is collecting more than three years of hospital data to establish a large, standardized database. This will allow the creation of consistent templates for analysis, ensuring hospitals — regardless of their reporting system — can benefit from actionable insights.

The center has also launched surveys and questionnaires to measure staff perceptions of safety, both before and after new initiatives such as canine security units. UM Health-West, for instance, is piloting its first canine program. LTU’s researchers will study its impact on staff morale, patient experience, and security outcomes.

“Partnering with hospitals, research institutions, associations, and security experts, the HVRC works to understand the scope of physical and psychological violence and develop effective interventions.”

– Adam Novak, MA, CPPS, Director, Safety & Quality, MHA Keystone Center

Listening to Healthcare Workers

The center’s commitment to listening is clear.

During a recent visit to UM Health-West, HVRC staff spent a full day speaking with teams across departments. The message was sobering: nearly every healthcare worker had endured multiple incidents of violence, often extending far beyond what official statistics capture.

“National data from OSHA only tracks physical injuries,” Frankovich said. “But that leaves out the emotional harm of name-calling, threats, or attempted assaults that staff experience daily. The real numbers are much higher than what’s reported.”

Barriers to accurate reporting also persist.

Workers often avoid filing incident reports because the process is time-consuming, fear of retaliation exists, or they doubt reporting will lead to meaningful change. By capturing security call data — records that reliably document volatile situations — the center can fill these gaps and create a clearer and more accurate picture.

“By partnering with hospitals, research institutions, associations, and security experts, the HVRC works to understand the scope of physical and psychological violence to develop effective interventions that ensure the safety of staff, patients, families, and visitors, “said Adam Novak, MA, CPPS, director, Safety & Quality, MHA Keystone Center. “With violence too often normalized in healthcare, HVRC is committed to reframing it as a systemic issue requiring systemic solutions that keep healthcare facilities places of healing for all.”

Looking Ahead

As the HVRC enters its second year, its work is increasingly focused on translating research into practical frameworks hospitals can adopt. By amplifying the voices of healthcare workers, analyzing complex data, and testing evidence-based solutions, LTU is helping the healthcare field confront one of its most pressing — and too often overlooked — healthcare worker safety challenges.

The healing environment improves for patients and their families when healthcare workers are protected. If you are a healthcare worker, administrator, or community member, the HVRC invites you to share your voice to help make hospitals safer for healthcare workers. For more information, visit the HVRC.