NOTE: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Friday, March 21, 2025, from Alan Levine, CEO and President of Ballad Health.
Good morning:
Some of you may have seen or read about a purported national threat to hospitals by a terrorist organization. This threat has been communicated to us through law enforcement channels, and has been made public in various social media outlets.
We take any threat seriously, and we always endeavor to protect our team members, our patients and our visitors.
This morning, the senior team of Ballad Health met to implement our enhanced safety plans with our priority focus – again – to ensure the safety of our team members and patients/visitors. We also have consulted directly with our region’s law enforcement leadership, each of whom has been extremely diligent and helpful. For security reasons, I will not share details here about our plans. We rely upon the advice of law enforcement and military experts as we take our actions. You will likely see some ramped up security precautions at certain facilities in coming days, and some of the precautions will not be as visible.
More information will be provided to you through hospital leadership as we cascade information to each hospital. This information will share with you steps you can take to help protect each other and our patients in the event an incident occurs, and to the degree it is appropriate, we will share other steps we are taking. Clearly, we do not want to publicize some of the steps we are taking, as those are being done for the purpose of protecting you and our patients.
AS ALWAYS: IT IS IMPORTANT WE ALL REMAIN VIGILANT as to our surroundings. If you see something that seems unusual, please notify your security team at the hospital. Do not attempt to deal with a situation on your own, but rather, please rely on the trained security teams we have put in place.
This information will likely frighten the public – and members of our own teams – as it becomes more widely reported. This is what terrorism and other bad actors seek to do. It is important we remain focused on our mission of honoring our patients by providing the best possible care. Our calling is a special one, and every time healthcare professionals are called to serve, we always step forward – putting others ahead of ourselves.
I sincerely regret having to send an email like this. But we have always been transparent with you because we trust you, and want you to trust the organization you have committed to working with as we care for our communities.
Alan
