A Texas lawmaker has proposed several measures that would aim to increase safety at hospitals as a result of the shooting at Methodist Dallas last year. In October, police said a man assaulted his girlfriend and killed two hospital employees.
The suspect, Nestor Hernandez, was on parole for aggravated robbery and had previously been convicted in two other cases. He has been charged with capital murder, family violence, aggravated assault on a public servant and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Monday afternoon, he remained in Dallas County Jail on more than $3 million bond.
State Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) has introduced three bills as a result of the shooting. HB 3547 would add penalties for parolees who cut off their ankle monitor.
"It came as a revelation to me and many others in the state legislature, members are coming up to me and saying, 'I had no idea it was not already massively illegal to cut off your ankle monitor,'" he said. "House Bill 3547 recognizes that gap."
The bill would require people who cut off their ankle monitor to serve the rest of their sentence and also add a felony charge.
Another bill would require the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to notify hospitals if a parolee plans to visit a hospital. Anchia says if the board had notified Methodist Dallas Hernandez was planning to come to witness a child's birth, the hospital would have increased security.
"They would have put eyes on him. They would have patted that person down," he said. "There would have been a persistent and constant law enforcement presence around that person to prevent the harm that occurred that day."
The third bill, HB 3548, would make assaulting a hospital worker a third degree felony.
"Our hospitals need to be safe havens, and our hospital workers need to be protected," Anchia said.
"When we talk about workplace violence, we still want to recruit people into healthcare," said Stephen Love, president and chief operating officer of the DFW Hospital Council. "We have to explain to them that we're doing everything we can to be safe."
Love cites statistics from the American Hospital Association showing 68% of nurses experienced verbal abuse in 2021, and 44% reported physical violence.
"Hospitals every day experience workplace violence," Love said. "We're appreciative of the work and the community coming together in a bi-partisan way to recognize making hospitals a safe-haven. We want to be a safe-haven."
Anchia said he has heard support from members of both parties for all three bills.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said a change to ankle monitor laws can protect people in all environments, not just hospitals.
"The bottom line is this, and you've heard me say it before: It is my belief ankle monitors do not work for violent criminals, and accountability is minimal for our most violent offenders," Garcia said.
Garcia said people who have been arrested for violent crimes can end up back on the streets just weeks later.
"This is certainly a step in the right direction. It certainly does soothe some of my frustrations with regards to chance after chance after chance," he said.
The suspect in the Methodist Dallas shooting had been released on parole for his 2015 aggravated robbery conviction in October of 2021. Prior to that case, he had also been convicted in 2009 for assault of a public servant. In 2011, he reached a plea deal for a separate robbery case.
Since his most recent release in 2021, Hernandez had been arrested twice for parole violations.
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