FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025
CONTACT: Megan Othersen Gorman / mgorman@pasnap.com / (215) 817-5781
Violence in Our Hospitals is Rising — But Temple Management Refuses to Invest in Real Protections, Rejecting Numerous Common-Sense Safety Proposals for Caregivers and Patients
1,000 TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL NURSES, TECHS, AND PROFESSIONALS SOUND THE ALARM, PICKETED OUTSIDE TWO TEMPLE LOCATIONS TODAY; SCHEDULE A STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH
“Temple says federal cuts to Medicaid will devastate its balance sheet. But they’re spending tens of millions buying out Holy Redeemer’s share of Chestnut Hill Hospital and tens of millions more opening the new Women and Families Hospital, calling them strategic investments in the future of the institution. Contracts for Temple’s frontline caregivers that prioritize protection and retention are strategic investment number one.”
PHILADELPHIA – Weapons are getting into Temple University Hospital – Main Campus, caregivers are getting injured, and security failures are a constant. Temple caregivers say they do not feel safe at work, yet management refuses to invest in the safety of their employees or their patients, choosing instead to invest in growing their footprint.
“Temple says federal cuts to Medicaid will devastate its balance sheet,” said Marty Harrison, RN, a longtime Temple University Hospital nurse and president of the Temple University Hospital Nurses Association. “But they’re spending tens of millions buying out Holy Redeemer’s share of Chestnut Hill Hospital and tens of millions more opening the new Women and Families Hospital, calling them strategic investments in the future of the institution. Contracts for Temple’s frontline caregivers that prioritize protection and retention are strategic investment number one. We have to be able to retain our skilled experienced staff and recruit new staff to Temple’s flagship hospital here on Broad Street.”
In contract bargaining, while downplaying the risk of violence to its employees and the very real fear Temple caregivers feel, Temple has proposed dramatic cuts to healthcare that would literally take caregivers at its flagship facility backward – the very caregivers who are risking their lives daily on the front lines of care in North Philadelphia.
In an internal survey on workplace violence conducted in August 2025, 94% of Temple University Hospital-Main Campus RNs believe that management has NOT established sufficient and appropriate security measures. 79% do not feel safe at work.
“I love my job. I love the community I serve. But I do not feel safe at work, and that’s largely due to Temple management,” said Erin Pastore, RN, a Temple University Hospital Emergency Department Nurse for more than 10 years and a victim of six workplace assaults. “Management does not take what we go through seriously enough to institute preventive policies and procedures or to debrief with staff after violent incidents.”
At the bargaining table, Temple University Hospital nurses, techs, and healthcare professionals have proposed these proposals to increase safety for staff and for patients. Temple has rejected every one:
- Security or Temple police officer(s) will respond to all private vehicles transporting patients to the ED and determine that the scene is safe before caregivers approach to remove the patient. Penn Presbyterian Hospital implemented this procedure after a very serious incident occurred there in October 2024: Three nurses were struck and injured by a car fleeing the scene as the caregivers rushed to help a gunshot victim being dropped off by that car. TEMPLE REJECTED THIS PROPOSAL.
- Create a new job classification of behavioral health specialists, trained in verbal and physical de-escalation techniques. Modeled on our clinical Rapid Response Team, this small team of professionals would be able to provide a real-time response anywhere in the hospital, intervening early into behavioral health incidents and preventing them from escalating. TEMPLE REJECTED THIS PROPOSAL
- Strengthen our incident debriefs. Our current contract language establishing debriefs following all serious incidents has proved so effective, we are now proposing debriefs happen in every unit and department in the hospital within 48 hours with Union representation to increase accountability for the implementation of the recommendations and to report back on progress being made. TEMPLE REJECTED THIS PROPOSAL.
- Staff access to emergency lock-down for ER doors in the case of emergency. TEMPLE REJECTED THIS PROPOSAL
“I want everyone to pay close attention to the bargaining we’re doing at Temple now, because the care we’re able to bring to our patients will be greatly affected by the contract we gain,” said Certified Pharmacy Technician and President of the Temple University Hospital Allied Health Professionals Carlos Aviles. “This isn’t a contract about money. It’s about safety in the workplace. It’s about retention of our skilled, experienced workforce. And it’s about making sure Temple is committed to the care we bring to our patients and our patient community.
“I’m expecting a lot of things to happen when the Medicaid cuts come through. But what won’t happen is that we’ll be seeing fewer patients – we’ll be seeing more! Our ERs will be exploding. What does that mean for our patients and for the people who care for them? That’s what we’re focused on. We’re not going backward. We’re not going to be intimidated by a health system more concerned with increasing their footprint than taking care of their frontline staff.”
“We have a healing mission,” said PASNAP President Maureen May, RN, a longtime Temple University Hospital Mother/Baby Nurse. “We want to heal our patients. We want to heal our community. And we want to help heal a system that doesn’t always have our backs.”
On Friday, September 19th, the nurses, techs, and professionals will vote on whether to authorize their bargaining committees to call a strike, if necessary.
The caregivers were joined on the picket line today by Sen. Sharif Street, Rep. Darisha Parker, Rep. Joe Hohenstein, Rep. Tarik Khan, City Councilmembers Jeffery Young, Jr., Jim Harrity, Rue Landau, and Quetcy Lozada, and former Philadelphia Mayor John Street. Rep. Danilo Burgos, who could not attend, sent a strong letter of support.
An informational picket is an event that helps raise community awareness; the caregivers attending the informational picket are either off from work that day or on a break.
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Temple University Hospital Nurses Association and Temple University Hospital Allied Health Professionals are affiliates of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents more than 11,000 frontline healthcare workers across the commonwealth. PASNAP was founded 25 years ago on the belief that patients do better when frontline caregivers have a voice to advocate for their patients and themselves.
