After attacks on colleagues in the Philadelphia area, a number of health care organizations led a demonstration on September 18 at the Philadelphia Convention Center to call for action against violence. On the afternoon of June 25, visiting nurse LuAnn Randall, 42, was beaten and robbed near the home of a pregnant patient. On the evening of September 13, 25-year-old hospice therapist Esther Schultz had returned from a home visit when she was pistol-whipped and shot in an attempted robbery. At the rally, protesters held signs bearing the names of the 298 people murdered in Philadelphia so far this year. The high rate of violent crime, and these incidents in particular, spurred health, business, and citizen groups to form the Coalition for Safer Streets.
Maureen Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN
news director