ABSTRACT
Coordinating and directing a program that provides a safe and secure environment in which one can study, work, visit, or be cared for on an urban campus is a challenge facing many security professionals today. On any urban medical campus, one would expect to encounter enthusiastic students, lab-coated faculty, and anxious patients and family members. In this setting, however, we also discover the many peripheral problems associated with today’s cities. Such social ills as poverty, disorganization, unemployment, decay, and drug abuse oftentimes manifest themselves in the form of crime and violence in inner-city neighborhoods and in turn can impact safety on campus. An urban medical campus has its own unique personality, culture, needs, challenges, and successes. Nationally known healthcare security author Russell Colling discusses the inherent dangers in the healthcare setting in his book
Security: Keeping The Health Care Environment Safe,
noting that two thirds of nonfatal assaults occur in service industries such as nursing homes, hospitals, and establishments providing residential care.
