Save Healthcare Workers Act (H.R. 3178 / S. 1600)

Summary

The Save Healthcare Workers Act would create federal criminal penalties for individuals who knowingly and intentionally assault or intimidate hospital employees who are performing their duties. The bill is modeled after the long-standing federal protections that already apply to flight crews, airport personnel, and federal officers, and would allow federal prosecutors to charge an assailant with a federal crime carrying a prison term of up to ten years (and up to twenty years if a dangerous weapon is used or serious bodily injury results).

The bill is not a workplace violence prevention standard — it does not direct OSHA to issue regulations or require hospitals to operate prevention programs — rather, it creates a deterrence layer by elevating assaults on healthcare workers from a state-level criminal matter to a federal one.

The legislation runs in parallel to two other federal vehicles addressing workplace violence in healthcare: the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 2531 / S.

1232), which would direct OSHA to issue an enforceable workplace violence prevention standard, and the long-stalled OSHA rulemaking under RIN 1218-AD08, which has remained on Long-Term Action status through the Spring 2025 and Spring 2026 federal regulatory agendas. The Save Healthcare Workers Act addresses the deterrence side of the equation while the OSHA-directed bill addresses the prevention side; the two are complementary rather than substitutes.

Key Provisions

• Federal criminal offense: Creates a new federal crime for knowingly and intentionally assaulting or intimidating a hospital employee performing their duties.
• Penalties: Up to ten years imprisonment for assault; enhanced penalties up to twenty years if a dangerous weapon is used or the victim suffers serious bodily injury.
• Coverage: Applies to hospital employees including nurses, physicians, technicians, security personnel, and support staff while engaged in their duties on hospital premises.
• Federal-state interaction: Federal jurisdiction layered on top of existing state assault statutes; federal prosecutors gain discretion to charge under the federal offense in appropriate cases.

Affected Entities

All hospitals operating in the United States and the employees of those hospitals. The bill does not impose direct compliance obligations on hospital operators — rather, it creates a federal criminal deterrent that operates alongside hospital workplace violence prevention programs already required under state statutes (Ohio HB 452, New York S5294-B/A203-B, Texas SB 240, California SB 553, Oregon SB 537, Vermont Act 9, Virginia HB 2269/SB 1260, etc.) and Joint Commission NPG 2a.