St. Louis-based SSM Health is ramping up security efforts across its network of 23 hospitals, including at SSM Health DePaul Hospital, where two employees were stabbed earlier this month, according to NBC affiliate KSDK.
SSM Health has added a metal detector and a 24-hour security guard to monitor the emergency department at the Bridgeton, Mo.-based hospital. The changes come after a nurse and paramedic were stabbed by a woman in the emergency department July 11. The hospital is now the sixth in the St. Louis area to add metal detectors, four of which are part of SSM Health.
The changes are part of a broader effort to increase security across the health system, an SSM Health spokesperson told KSDK. The system spent "several months conducting an extensive systemwide evaluation of our physical environments, while also seeking input from team members who participate in our workplace violence committees at the local and system level," the spokesperson said.
"Our priority is the health and safety of all our team members, patients and the community we serve," the health system told Becker's July 12.
Editor's note: Becker's reached out to SSM Health for comment and will update the article as more information becomes available.