By Dan Hounsell

While measures to enhance hospital security tend to focus on emergencies and incidents inside of the facilities, the surrounding landscapes and parking lots and structures also can present risks of workplace violence to patients and staff.

Light levels are significantly better than they were nearly two years ago, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The news organization first hired a consultant in May 2019 as part of an investigation into safety and security at hospital parking areas following a beating homicide of a nurse practitioner that took place in two of Froedtert Hospital’s garages.

The investigation revealed the way hospitals nationwide fail to adequately protect employees and visitors from violence in parking garages, leaving cameras unmonitored, garages unstaffed and lighting at unsafe levels. Locally, the investigation exposed inadequate lighting — in one case 30 times lower than industry standards — and other security lapses at five Milwaukee-area hospitals.