Ohio hospitals promise to protect health care workers from violence, implement metal detectors

OhioHealth announced new metal detectors at public entrances after hospitals in central Ohio became infamous for being dangerous places for nurses.

OhioHealth said all OhioHealth hospitals and emergency departments will install metal detectors at the public entrances of its 26 locations in 2026 to provide weapons-free screening, NBC 4 reported. OhioHealth also said it will implement purse and bag checks.

“The safety of our patients, visitors, and associates is of utmost importance to us at OhioHealth,” Vice President of Security and Protective Services Todd Wickerham said. “While we have always prohibited weapons from entering our care sites, this is an active measure to make sure that’s the case.”

In early December, OhioHealth also announced that by July 2027, it will require all hospital visitors aged 18 and older to present a government-issued ID before entering.

The recent news came after hospitals in central Ohio became notorious for being dangerous places for healthcare workers, with The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center among the facilities where nurses felt threatened regularly.

“We are advocating not only for the safety, well-being, and fair treatment of the professionals who care for patients across OSU, but also for the patients we serve in the broader community that rely on this institution for high-quality, safe, and compassionate care,” the president of the Ohio Nurse Association, Rick Lucas, said.

In addition to violence, protesters also pointed out during one of the board meetings that the hospital’s namesake, Lex Wexner, is connected to Jeffrey Epstein.

Ohio State lawyers said that Wexner should not be deposed in the civil case related to former university doctor Richard Strauss’s sexual abuse of several student athletes decades ago, filing a motion on Dec. 10 in federal court, in which they said that “none of the discovery taken to date suggests that Mr. Wexner has any specific information ‘relevant to any party’s claim or defense’ in this litigation.”

Wexner Medical Center told NBC 4 that it installed eight new metal detectors this fall, resulting in more than 500 weapons being stopped from entering hospital facilities in September alone.

Ohio nurses also criticized MetroHealth System, urging it to protect its nurses.

“Nurses are asking for the ability to do their jobs without being physically assaulted, without being placed in dangerous situations, without being forced to manage patient mixes that are unsafe,” Ann Mueller, of the Ohio Nurses Association, previously told Ideastream.