A hospital in Queens, N.Y., recently became the first in the city to get armed guards, according to the The New York Post. Last year’s fatal shooting at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center accelerated program at Northwell Health system. Northwell has 23 hospitals, including six in the city.
The armed guards are all current or former police and carry the same 9 mm handguns, holsters and bullets as NYPD officers. Northwell also recently formed a partnership with the New York Police Department to hire regular department officers by the hour at some sites.
Other New York hospitals have been hesitant to arm their guards. New York City Health and Hospitals, formerly known as HHC, which runs the city’s facilities, has been against arming its guards, which it considers “friendly greeters’’ and “client navigators.’’
This Quick Read was submitted by Cathryn Jakicic, Healthcare Industries Editor, FacilitiesNet. For more about hospital campuses and other medical facilities, visit https://www.facilitiesnet.com/healthcarefacilities.
