The Northern Health Region’s plan to bolster safety in the Thompson hospital, following a gun incident in its chapel on Christmas Eve, has upset nurses, whose union says it won’t address the problem.
Raj Sewda, the CEO of the health authority, issued a directive that the Thompson General Hospital be locked down each evening at 7 p.m., as of Jan. 21, at all access points, including elevators and stairwells, but not the main doors to the emergency room.
The memo, which the nurses union released Wednesday, was issued after an incident in which a suspect pointed a gun at a nurse and later fired it. No one was hurt and the suspect was arrested.
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Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson: “This memo makes no sense to me at all.”
Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said nurses had taken such measures before the memo was issued, although she didn’t know the exact timing.
“This memo makes no sense to me at all,” she said Wednesday.
“I don’t think it’s going to change what’s happening in the hospital in Thompson. The incident with the gun… happened at 4 o’clock in the afternoon… weapons are coming into the facility at all hours.”
Jackson said the incident and CEO response demonstrate the urgent need to boost funding to increase security measures at hospitals across the province, especially the addition of institutional safety officers and a weapons scanner program.
The officers are on duty at Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface Hospital, Victoria Hospital, Brandon Regional Health Centre and Selkirk Mental Health Centre.
Long Plain First Nation safety officers are stationed at Portage la Prairie’s hospital three nights a week as part of a pilot project.
A weapons scanner has been installed at the emergency room entrance of HSC and will be rolled out Feb. 7.
Jackson said she believes the government recognizes there’s a safety issue at hospitals.
“It’s putting the employers (the health regions) in a position where they’re scrambling to provide safe facilities and to come up with ways to make facilities safer, but with no funding to do anything different than lock a door,” said Jackson.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Wednesday the province is working with health-care sites, including Thompson’s hospital, to make institutional safety officers available and to better understand specific security needs.
“We’re working with the regional health authority to roll out institutional safety officers and increase and improve safety and security measures for Thompson,” the minister said.
“What I’ve asked of Shared Health’s lead on this is to engage First Nations, to engage community, and to engage leaders to take steps… in a way that is appropriate and meets unique needs.”
The minister did not say whether funding for the safety officer program will be increased.
A spokesman for Shared Health refused to say how much money has been allocated to the institutional safety officer or weapons detector programs annually.
He said the agency is in discussions about security initiatives with health regions, facilities and the provincial government.
A spokeswoman for the Northern Health Region said it is working with the province to implement safety measures in northern health facilities.
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera
Reporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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