City Council aims to improve hospital security

The Austin City Council unanimously approved a measure Thursday to require extra security measures at new hospitals.

Why it matters: The move comes in response to a crash earlier this year at St. David's North Austin Medical Center when a drunken driver plowed into the ER. She injuring at least five people and died.

Zoom in: A lawsuit filed by crash victims accuses St. David's of "gross negligence" for failing to have crash-rated vertical safety barriers, called bollards, arguing they could have prevented the deadly crash.

• St. David's, one of the state's largest health systems, has declined to comment on the lawsuit.
• It did say in a statement to Axios that "St. David's HealthCare will work with policymakers to ensure compliance with any new legal or regulatory requirement, if they are passed."

What they're saying: Nadia and Levi Bernard and their two toddlers were among the people injured.

• Sean Breen, a lawyer for the Bernard family, told KXAN that "what they really, really want is for nobody else to have to go through what they've gone through."

By the numbers: A KXAN investigation found that there have been more than 300 crashes at medical centers in the last decade.

• There is no legal requirement or industry standard for security barriers that could stop those crashes from happening, according to KXAN.

How it works: The City Council measure requires new hospitals to install bollards.

• It also directs the city manager to look for ways to incentivize existing hospitals to do the same, and potentially require it whenever a hospital applies for a new permit.

The bottom line: "I wanted to make sure every resident in the city of Austin is safe when they are visiting a hospital or emergency room," Austin City Council member Mackenzie Kelly, who sponsored the measure, told KXAN.