Thompson hospital security protocols fail to provide any real solutions, nurses' union says
Visitor barricaded himself in hospital chapel with rifle, fired through window
New security measures put in place at Thompson General Hospital after a visitor with a gun barricaded himself inside the facility's chapel are a Band-Aid approach, says the union that represents Manitoba nurses.
"It's an announcement that, as far as I'm concerned, really has no merit on making the facility safer," Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said Wednesday.
RCMP responded to a call about a man with a gun inside the hospital's chapel just after 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The man pointed a .22-calibre rifle at staff and fired the gun through a window before hospital security staff secured the weapon, police say.
A nightly lockdown, beginning at 7 p.m., was put in effect on Jan. 21, says a Northern Health Region memo emailed to staff last week. Elevators will also be locked and staff are also being required to ensure all stairways and doors are closed.
The memo said the change comes after the health authority wrapped up an internal review on potential short-term safety improvements.
The nurses' union said in a social media post Wednesday that it fails to provide any real solutions — the hospital has already been locking its doors for years, and the Christmas Eve incident happened in the afternoon.
The memo also said the main doors of the hospital's emergency department will remain open at nights.
"Why would you leave an emergency door open?" Jackson said. "Most other facilities are locked down, and if you come to the door after a certain time, you have to be buzzed in."
Late last year, the union sounded an alarm about safety issues at the Swan Valley Health Centre in rural Westman, part of the Prairie Mountain Health region.
Jackson would like to see more institutional safety officers at rural hospitals amid what she says has been a rise in violence in health-care settings.
"On a regular day, there are incidences in these facilities that put not only the staff but patients and families at risk," she said.
"Behaviours escalate, threats are made. That's where an institutional safety officer would be very beneficial."
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Thursday they've sent direction to prioritize institutional safety officer training and staffing at Thompson General, and they should be on site in the coming months.
The minister has also instructed the hospital to engage and consult with Indigenous people to take a culturally sensitive approach to its security measures, based on feedback from staff and the community.
"All folks who provide care, receive care and visit Thompson Hospital should have their needs met," Asagwara said.
"I do think that it's important that, however, we take steps to address safety and security, that we do it in a way that really is meaningful and that meets the unique needs of any site that we're doing this work at."
Northern Health Region said in a statement it will continue to work alongside the province to implement safety measures, adding that it wants to reassure the hospital has security personnel stationed there 24/7.
The union would like to see the government commit more funding toward making facilities safer.
A man from Thompson faces several gun-related charges in relation to the Christmas Eve incident.
With files from Sanuda Ranawake