California Assembly Bill 1083 on Hospital Safety Is Signed into Law!

On April 15, 2009, CIR leaders Sam Kalioundji (Internal Medicine, LAC+USC), and Medell Briggs Malonson (Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA) went to Sacramento to lobby the Assembly Health Committee to support AB 1083. On October 11, 2009, that bill became law.

AB1083 is a bill that enhances an old piece of safety legislation from the early1990’s. Authored by Assemblyman Perez, it requires hospitals to have a safety plan that is accessible to employees in place to address workplace violence, calls for employees to be included in the plan’s creation, and calls for an annual assessment of the safety plan.

Residents teamed up with SEIU121RN nurses to lobby the 19 members of the Health Committee and shared their stories of workplace violence, as well as statistics gathered from a CA-wide survey taken by CIR and 121RN members. Over 300 residents took the survey in NoCal and SoCal CIR hospitals. The results show that at least 50% have witnessed violence and about 1/3 of those surveyed have experienced violence themselves.


By May of 2009, the bill had passed through the California Assembly. From there, it went to the Senate, which ultimately passed it in August, 2009. In September it went to the Governor, who ultimately signed it into law. CIR leaders are hailing this legislative victory, as we continue to lead the way in keeping our hospital facilities, patients, and health care workers safe.