Joy Solomon

Q: When you heard a nursing home employee was shot by her ex-husband in the facility parking lot in December, what was your first thought? 

A: It was that people around her in the community had awareness that there was something very bad going on in her marriage. The question for me is what are we doing to support the safety of people who are in situations like hers. 

Q: Can you explain It’s Your Call?

A: This is a program that supports all employees at the Hebrew Home [RiverSpring Health]. It involves all employees having training on what domestic violence is, and that it doesn’t stay at home. Every time we have done a training, someone has come up or contacted us, and said, “This is my situation currently,” or, “This is what happened to me before.” The statistics — 1 in 4 women have said they’ve been attacked by a partner — were accurate within our own systems. 

Q: What are the legal and moral obligations of a provider?

A: Every state is different. The moral responsibility is quite different from the legal responsibility. People do have the right to expect that they work in an environment that is safe. If you’re being beaten up at home, it’s hard to come into work and provide excellent care for frail elderly people.