Framingham, Massachusetts – Campus Safety is pleased to announce the 2022 healthcare Director of the Year finalists. 
The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on everyone but has been even more challenging for security, public safety, and emergency management executives working in healthcare and hospitals. From 2019 to 2020, the assault rate at U.S. hospitals increased more than 23%. Although we don’t have the statistics for 2021 yet, it’s almost certain that the rate of workplace violence increased even more last year.
And let’s not forget the toll that COVID has had on staff morale or their availability to work. The labor shortage that our entire economy is facing right now is hitting healthcare even harder.
It’s for these reasons and many more that the 2022 healthcare Director of the Year finalists deserve special kudos. Just look at some of their achievements – all accomplished under incredibly challenging circumstances:
- Identifying ways the security department could provide non-security assistance to overworked clinicians.
- Upgrading campus-wide video surveillance and access control systems
- Developing from scratch a full-time security department or transitioning from a security department to a law enforcement agency
- Managing the safety, security, communications, supplies, and care of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan
- Applying for and winning thousands of dollars of grants, as well as achieving thousands of dollars of savings that were used to bolster the security program and technologies
- Saving the life of an employee
The Healthcare Campus Safety Director of the Year finalists are:
- Rick Franks, Security Manager, Jewish Association on Aging, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania View his profile & photos
- Jamie Gower, Director of Safety and Security, Carson Valley Medical Center, Gardnerville, Nevada View her profile & photos
- Kyle Houraney, Director of Public Safety and Emergency Management, Orange County Global Medical Center, Santa Ana, California View his profile & photos
- Joey Hunter, Director of Security, Safety, and Emergency Preparedness, San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, Banning, California View his profile & photos
- Randy Kolentus, Chief of Police, Reid Health System, Richmond, Indiana View his profile & photos
- Paul Sarnese, Assistant Vice President of Environmental Services, Security, and Safety, Virtua Health, Marlton, New Jersey View his profile & photos
The Director of the Year winners and runners-up will be announced at Campus Safety Conference East, which will be held June 20-22 in Bethesda, Maryland. For more information on the Campus Safety Conference, visit CampusSafetyConference.com.
Check out the Higher Education Director of the Year finalists.
