Two police officers will be stationed at Health Sciences Centre around the clock amid rising concerns about violence at Winnipeg’s largest hospital.
Starting this fall, the Winnipeg Police Service officers will be at the hospital’s emergency department to support security guards and safety officers, the province said on Tuesday.
Five new weapon-detection scanners will also be installed at the hospital’s main public entrances, the province said.
The hospital has already made use of AI-powered weapon detectors at some of its entrances.
Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said there will be about $1.6 million in new, dedicated annual provincial funding for the officers, while the scanners will cost about $750,000.
But the minister wouldn’t say whether the province plans to increase that funding as time goes on to account for inflation.
Nurses’ union prefers more safety officers
“We’re going to continue to monitor and assess this, and make decisions as we move forward about how we build upon this,” Asagwara told CBC News. “If that means additional funding, there’ll be additional funding.”
In August, the Manitoba Nurses Union said 94 per cent of Health Sciences Centre nurses voted in favour of “grey listing” the hospital to discourage front-line workers from taking jobs there because of safety concerns.
The vote followed a string of crimes around the central Winnipeg hospital, including sexual assaults of five people — two of them nurses — in early July.
Manitoba Nurses Union President Darlene Jackson believes the province’s announcement is “a direct result of the pressure” that grey listing put on the government.
However, Jackson’s not sure police are the best use of government dollars. She also worries that the Winnipeg Police Service is already stretched thin.
She wants to see safety officers — who have specialized de-escalation training and some policing ability — used more consistently across the province.
Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, says she would prefer more funding for safety officers at hospitals. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
“Utilizing police that we need on the street … is a good short-term solution, but I’d like to see an expansion of the [safety officers],” Jackson told CBC News.
“Though I think this is a really, really positive first step in making Health Sciences safer.”
Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said he wants to know where the police officers are being pulled from.
“Two police officers at the HSC is not going to solve all the problems that they’re asking for,” he said at an unrelated news conference.
“This is just a knee-jerk reaction by the NDP government to make an announcement to make it look like they’re doing something, when really the results aren’t going to be there.”
The Winnipeg Police Service is committed to improved safety at the hospital and hopes to finalize details of the plan with the province, but those details are still being worked out, Chief Gene Bowers said in a news release on Tuesday.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said he couldn’t comment on the province’s announcement — because he didn’t know about it beforehand.
“This one I was not aware of,” Gillingham told reporters at an unrelated news conference.
“We’re speaking to the province today to try to understand what their intention is.”
Gillingham declined to comment on the initiative before he understands the details, but said he generally supports efforts to improve public safety at the hospital and throughout the city.
“Miscommunication is a small thing, [but] public safety is the Number 1 priority.”