Health minister wants security assessments from regional authorities after patient assaults ER doctor at HSC

The province plans to bolster safety measures across all health regions amid a wave of violence against front-line staff — including an “unacceptable” weekend attack in which a patient punched the emergency doctor treating him at the Health Sciences Centre.

The incident occurred last Friday afternoon, when a male patient struck the physician. The patient was arrested, the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed Tuesday.

In a statement, Shared Health said institutional safety officers helped in the response following the assault.

“Incidents like this serve as a reminder of the challenges health-care workers face every day. They also reinforce the importance of our ongoing work to strengthen safety measures and ensure a secure environment for everyone at HSC,” a spokesperson for the health authority said.

The doctor’s age, gender and injuries were not disclosed.

The attack happened amid ongoing efforts to crack down on violence against health-care workers in Manitoba.

“Health-care workers, like all workers, deserve to be safe at their workplace, and harming them is unacceptable,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. “Everybody deserves to go to work and know they are going to be treated with respect and not face incidents of violence.”

Asagwara has asked regional health authorities to assess security protocols at their various facilities and recommend possible safety improvements.

“Health-care workers, like all workers, deserve to be safe at their workplace, and harming them is unacceptable.”

The minister cited a recent threat risk assessment at Thompson’s hospital that included a review of panic alarms, public address systems, security lighting and access points.

The facility plans to add 10 new institutional safety officer positions. Eight of the new hires will work full time hours to provide 24-7 security at the northern health centre.

The health authority received 32 applications for the 10 positions and hiring is “well underway,” Asagwara said, adding a new security lead was also hired for the region and began work on Dec. 1.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work that will actually be rolling out across all regions,” the minister said.

“You can expect that the work… is really going to ramp up, and that we’ll have the tool provincially at sites across the province to ensure that we’re moving safety and security in the right direction.”

Thompson General Hospital and HSC are currently “grey-listed” by the Manitoba Nurses Union, which has declared them unsafe and is urging members elsewhere to turn down available shifts until safety-related demands are met.

Grey-listing at HSC began in August after a spike in violent incidents and safety concerns at and near the facility, including sexual assaults targeting four women and a teenage girl, all on the same evening in July.

Another HSC doctor was assaulted by a patient in November, and a nurse and health-care aide were attacked the previous month.

In Thompson, a patient was stabbed in the emergency room in September and a man fired a gun inside the hospital last Christmas Eve.

Unionized nurses in Thompson voted in favour of grey-listing the hospital last month, and the designation officially took effect last week.

“I am hearing from nurses that things are better, that they do feel safer, but we are still not at a point where I can say that we’re ready to lift grey-listing.”

“I am hearing from nurses that things are better, that they do feel safer, but we are still not at a point where I can say that we’re ready to lift grey-listing,” union president Darlene Jackson said.

Jackson said negotiations over the grey-listing at HSC and Thompson are ongoing, and there is no concrete timeline for the action to end.

Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook took aim at the NDP government in response to the latest attack at HSC.

“It’s absolutely appalling whenever we hear about this kind of violence in any hospital or emergency room,” the Progressive Conservative MLA for Roblin said.

“It’s scary for front-line health-care workers and it’s scary for patients. Rather than simply reacting every time something bad happens, the government should be getting ahead of it.”

Shared Health said violence in any form is unacceptable and has a significant impact on staff.

A spokesperson said the authority is working with the physician “who experienced Friday’s traumatic event” and will provide ongoing support.

“Rather than simply reacting every time something bad happens, the government should be getting ahead of it.”

The province’s physician advocacy organization said it, too, is in touch with the victim.

“Doctors Manitoba is deeply disturbed about yet another assault on a physician at Health Sciences Centre,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“While we’ve seen significant steps to improve safety at HSC in recent months, this is another unnecessary reminder that there is much more work to be done, and it must be done swiftly.”

A survey conducted in August by the organization showed physicians who work at HSC are subjected to nearly half of all the assaults perpetrated against doctors in the province.

At the time, more than four in 10 of all physical-safety incidents reported to Doctors Manitoba over the previous 12 months occurred at or near HSC, the survey said.

Almost 30 per cent of HSC doctors who participated in the survey said they experienced an average of 11 physical-safety incidents in 2023, nearly double the provincial average of six.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca