According to authorities, violent assault crimes have become a major issue for patients and workers at the largest hospital in New Jersey, the Bergen Regional Medical Center.

The Record of Woodland Park recently examined police records and found that Paramus NJ police officers were called to the Bergen Regional Medical Center, located in Paramus, to respond to nearly 300 assault reports in 2015. This was an increase of approximately 40 percent over the total number of assaults reported at the hospital in 2014.

In recent years, the problem of assault offenses at the Bergen Regional Medical Center has gotten so bad that the federal government had to step in. Last year, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) imposed sanctions against the Paramus hospital because eight hospital employees sustained injuries as a result of assaults.

According to Bergen County police records, the assault victims at the hospital have included toddlers who were abused, senior citizens who were attacked, and hospital staff workers who were beaten by violent patients.

One of the assault victims in 2015 was a nurse at the hospital. She reported that a large patient attacked her while he was in the process of being treated for his medical condition. The victim sustained serious injuries in the violent beating.

Another person who reported being assaulted at the Paramus hospital was a six-year-old boy who told police that another young patient sexually assaulted him.

The Bergen Regional Medical Center, formerly known as Bergen Pines, is a publicly owned facility that remains privately run. It is also the largest hospital in NJ, providing 1,070 beds to patients who need medical treatment for injuries, doctor evaluations for psychiatric issues, and recovery services for drug addiction problems.

Many of the patients who end up going to the Bergen Regional Medical Center do not have health insurance and lack the money they would need to go to another hospital.

After the media reported the staggering figures about the alleged assaults at the Paramus medical center, the hospital’s operator, Bergen Regional Medical Center LP, responded that the problem of assaults at the hospital has improved recently.

To learn more, read the NJ.com article, “Incidents of Violence Frequent at N.J.’s Largest Hospital, Report Says.”