Inside the lobbying push that fueled arrests at Indy hospitals(MIRROR INDY) — A decade-long lobbying effort placed police inside Indiana hospitals and upgraded criminal charges for batteries against healthcare workers. It started in 2013, when the Indiana Hospital Association successfully pushed lawmakers to give hospitals the power to create their own police departments. Mirror Indy asked whether the state hospital association supports people being arrested at hospitals for non-violent crimes. “An enhanced penalty is not going to be the end of workplace violence,” Laurie Gerdt, the association’s quality and safety advisor, told Mirror Indy. Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.