Code white calls rise at trio of Winnipeg hospitals

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This article was published 19/03/2019 (2632 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Code whites — a protocol triggered when health-care workers or security guards are confronted with violent or aggressive persons and need help to de-escalate the situation — have become daily, or near daily, occurrences at three Winnipeg hospitals, new data show.

According to statistics released by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, the Health Sciences Centre had 501 code whites in 2018, with Grace Hospital and Victoria General Hospital registering 325 and 339, respectively.

“The numbers show a clear increase in the number of violent incidents happening in our hospitals. That’s obviously very concerning, but it’s not news to our members. This is what our members working in hospitals have been saying for quite some time,” said Jean-Guy Bourgeois, director of internal operations for the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union.

The biggest spike in code whites came at Victoria: a 47 per cent increase in 2018, after registering 230 the year before. The HSC and Grace registered increases of five per cent and seven per cent, respectively.

A spokesman for the WRHA said the three hospitals are the only ones which have statistics on code whites available, so it remains unclear how the numbers compare to other Winnipeg facilities.

“We are always working to find new and better solutions to reduce the risk of violent incidents occurring and to mitigate the severity of those few incidents that unfortunately do occur,” the spokesman said in a written statement.

“We make every effort to keep up with best practices in health-care safety and security, as well as clinical best practices in dealing with patients whose actions are not deliberate or premeditated.”

NDP health critic Bernadette Smith raised the issue in question period Tuesday.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen accused her of conflating the increase in code whites with a rise in illicit drug use, specifically methamphetamine consumption in Manitoba.

“The member should know that when it comes to health facilities, the largest number of those code whites is actually due to individuals with dementia or other confusion wandering off. There’s a broad variety of reasons for these codes and they are on the rise, we’re aware of that,” Friesen said.

When told of the minister’s comments, Bourgeois countered it doesn’t matter whether what leads to a code white, as the impact on front-line workers is the same.

“First off, I’d say that I trust our members working on the front lines more than the minister of health. They’re saying they’re seeing more violent incidents and the nature of those incidents are more threatening,” he said.

“Whether the cause is dementia or meth-induced psychosis, the feeling of being threatened is the same. There’s a risk of physical injury, plus there’s also the mental stress that comes with being exposed to those situations on a repeated basis.”

— with files from Jessica Botelho-Urbanski

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe