Pics, Video and Recap: 2025 EM Advocacy Day in Virginia
On Wednesday, 30 VACEP members, residents, and med students braved the bone-chilling cold (and Hampton Roads attendees fought through snow) to meet lawmakers in Richmond at the 2025 Virginia General Assembly for our annual EM Advocacy Day.
Despite one of the slower years for lawmakers, VACEP saw a record number of emergency physicians from around the state attend and advocate for the emergency medicine specialty.
VACEP President Jesse Spangler, MD, FACEP offers a look at EM Advocacy Day 2025, along with photos from the day.
Unlike recent years where VACEP introduced and supported specific legislation, 2025 is far quieter, with only two bills on emergency medicine’s radar.
One bill is supported by VACEP (to improve data reporting on violent threats against healthcare providers) while the other is opposed (ending the medical malpractice cap in some cases in Virginia).
SUPPORT BILL
Reporting of Violent Threats or Battery Against Healthcare Providers HB2269 (Tran) & SB1260 (Aird)
Requires Virginia hospitals to report any threat or battery against a working healthcare provider while on premises of a medical facility. Hospitals would have to report relevant data quarterly, and the Department of Health would publish aggregate numbers on its website.
Why VACEP supports: Every Virginia emergency physician and ER nurse has a story of workplace violence — likely from that day or week — that they have experienced from unruly patients or visitors. Transparency in hospital reporting is good for patient, physician, and staff safety. Passage of the bill will allow hospitals to collect data to more deeply understand, and respond, to the issue of workplace violence.
We do have survey data from ACEP that paints a picture of the problem:
91% of emergency physicians have been attacked or threatened in the past year.
One-quarter report being assaulted multiple times per week. Many ER workers decline or are encouraged not to report assaults.
And only 2% of hospitals press charges.
PHOTO GALLERY: VACEP’S 2025 EM ADVOCACY DAY
OPPOSE BILL
Update, January 29: Thanks to members' efforts, VACEP helped defeat this bill, which was “passed by indefinitely” for the year. Thanks to everyone, especially the physicians who joined us this month at EM Advocacy Day, for expressing their opposition to the legislation.
Raising the Med Mal Cap in Certain Cases SB904 (Stanley)
Eliminates the medical malpractice cap in cases where a patient is age 10 or younger.
Why VACEP opposes: Virginia’s medical malpractice cap is $2.65 million. It applies to all med mal claims, including those tried by a jury or judge. The cap increases by $50,000 each year until reaching $3 million on July 1, 2031.
Removing or modifying the med mal cap will significantly increase the cost of providing and receiving healthcare in Virginia. Under the existing cap, liability costs for doctors or hospitals will increase by 11%. Without a cap and a claim as high as $50 million, costs would rise more than 112%.
The Commonwealth faces a healthcare professional workforce crisis, and many providers on the front lines are already strained, dealing with career fatigue, and other mental health issues.
Healthcare providers and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association support Virginia's current medical malpractice laws. In 2010 and 2011, VACEP worked with the trial lawyers to reach a consensus on updates to the cap. Lawmakers approved an increase of $50,000 per year until 2032. This model was created to give stability and certainty for all stakeholders.
For additional reading:
A successful multi-year to stop surprise billing (this is VACEP.org’s most visited page)
