Nurses, doctors push back on new bill: Will behavioral health crisis get pass for assaults?

A new bill making its way through the Washington State Legislature is igniting debate among healthcare workers, particularly nurses and doctors, who are concerned it could endanger their safety.

House Bill 1220 (HB 1220), introduced by several Democratic representatives, seeks to adjust the legal framework surrounding assaults on healthcare providers. The bill would exempt certain behavioral health situations from assault in the third-degree charges — which are currently a felony — when a healthcare provider is attacked.

Instead, the attacker would only be charged with a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, which carries a much lighter sentence, if the individual: is being detained or awaiting evaluation for behavioral health treatment, is in custody due to criminal insanity or is voluntarily seeking inpatient treatment for a behavioral health condition.

The bill’s intent is to recognize that individuals in the midst of a mental health crisis may not have full control over their actions and should not face the same legal consequences as someone assaulting a healthcare worker with criminal intent.

Representative Darya Farivar (D-Seattle), the bill’s main sponsor, emphasized this point during a legislative hearing on Monday.

“We are not removing protections for workers, because at the end of the day, folks can still call for help, law enforcement can still respond, arrest and book the individual, and prosecutors can still charge the individual,” she said. “We’re just making a change in what that charge is at the end of the day.”

More politics: Washington House committee advances controversial firearm bills amid heated debate

Why healthcare workers are concerned

For healthcare professionals, the concern with HB 1220 lies in the potential to create a loophole that could allow individuals in behavioral health crises to assault them without facing the same legal repercussions as others. Anyone not considered to be in a behavioral crisis could face years of prison time for a violent assault against a nurse or doctor.

Justin Gill, representing the Washington State Nurses Association, expressed concerns the bill does not directly address the systemic issues causing violence in healthcare settings.

“We don’t feel that the bill addresses the issue within the criminal justice system, where the problem actually lies,” he said.

Gill added, “Washington state has seen a 41% increase over the prior year in the reporting of events of serious harm and death related to workplace violence against patients and healthcare staff.”

According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), nearly one in four nurses report experiencing physical violence on the job.

“A felony criminal prosecution does not provide the person suffering from mental illness access to needed treatment,” Katie Harrell, special counsel for criminal practice and policy with the King County Department of Public Defense, said.

She stressed the criminal justice system is not equipped to provide the necessary mental health care and that HB 1220 could help address this gap by avoiding felony charges.

“What we’re trying to do with this bill is really take a scalpel to our assault-three laws and take a narrow look at folks who we already know are not doing well,” Farivar said.

Speed demons on a leash: Bill would require limiter device for reckless drivers

Doctor tells of multiple attacks

Healthcare professionals fear the bill’s exemption could signal to some individuals that there are no significant legal consequences for attacking healthcare workers during a crisis.

Dr. Ryan Keay, an emergency physician in Snohomish County, Washington, spoke in opposition on behalf of the Washington Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

“This bill asserts that patients experiencing a behavioral health crisis are unable to consider the consequences of their actions. This is an assumption, and it is not true of all patients,” Keay said.

She argued that some patients are aware of their actions even during a crisis and should not be exempt from harsher consequences.

“I’ve been a physician for almost 20 years and I’ve personally been assaulted, kicked in the face, had my hair pulled and in addition, I was stalked for over a year by a mental health patient,” she told lawmakers.

The chairman of the Community Safety Committee has not set a date for a vote on the bill.

Matt Markovich often covers the state legislature and public policy for KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Matt’s stories here. Follow him on X, or email him here.

Follow @https://twitter.com/mattmarkovich