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Virginia is among a growing number of states that have adopted healthcare-specific workplace violence prevention and reporting obligations. On April 6, 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger signed House Bill (HB) 1489, which expands and clarifies workplace violence reporting requirements for hospitals with emergency departments.
Specifically, the new law requires covered hospitals to:
- Collect more detailed information about reported workplace violence incidents, including specific incident descriptors and the degree of physical injuries to staff;
- Report facility-level data at least quarterly to additional internal recipients, such as the chief of staff, the chief executive officer, and the medical staff executive committee, or equivalent position;
- Submit annual, aggregated facility-level data to the Virginia Department of Health (Department), with all personally identifiable information removed; and
- Include in its annual report to the Department a statement indicating whether the hospital changed any existing policies in response to workplace violence incidents during the reporting period.
Under legislation that took effect in 2025, covered hospitals are already required to maintain a workplace violence incident reporting system, adopt anti-retaliation policies protecting employees who report incidents or seek assistance, and establish a security plan based on a facility-specific risk assessment. Hospitals must also provide workforce training on topics such as de-escalation, risk identification, and violence prevention planning.
Under HB 1489, the Department is required to publish an annual summary of the aggregated data according to the health planning region where the incident occurred. The first public report is due by December 31, 2027.
HB 1489 also reinforces confidentiality protections. Facility-level data and information related to workplace violence is confidential, and information submitted to the Department under this law is exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
The Board of Health is directed to promulgate regulations implementing these provisions by January 1, 2027. Jackson Lewis attorneys will monitor forthcoming regulations and related developments.
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