Tewksbury Officials Admit Missteps on Security Shift as Assaults Fell 16%

1 articles · Updated · The Boston Globe · May 26

State health officials said they mishandled communication around Tewksbury Hospital’s security-policy changes after April restrictions on pepper gel, handcuffs and batons triggered backlash from police, politicians and workers.
The policy fight followed several violent incidents and a late-2025 case in which a security worker used pepper gel on an aggressive psychiatric patient, prompting the state to ban those tools in clinical areas and rely more on police response.
214 physical assaults were reported last year, down 16% from 2022, while visitor screening in early 2026 intercepted dozens of knives, drugs and paraphernalia and patient walkaways fell to 3 from 10.
Workers and local police still say the hospital remains unsafe, citing understaffing, armed officers on psychiatric floors and a growing share of court-involved patients mixed with medically fragile or civilly committed residents.
$11 million is the estimated cost to replace the aging Saunders Building, which officials say was not designed for today’s forensic population and limits safer unit design, secure movement and other upgrades.

Beyond policy debates, is a 1960s building the true culprit behind the hospital's safety crisis?

When a hospital must also function as a prison, can it truly succeed at being either?