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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Nurses at Seven Oaks General Hospital are considering a grey-list vote over concerns about violence and the safety of staff and patients.<\/p>\n
The nurses\u2019 concerns and recommendations for improvements will be presented to their employer when finalized.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very much along the same lines as St. Boniface Hospital \u2014 violence towards front-line workers, wait times, the staffing issues in urgent care, the staffing issues throughout their entire building,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cIt\u2019s really a lot of patient care and patient safety issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grey-listing is a union tactic that discourages nurses from seeking work at a facility, and presses health authorities to take action in response to members\u2019 concerns. The action is considered a last resort, the nurses union has said.<\/p>\n
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said violence against health-care workers is unacceptable, and the government has a zero-tolerance approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take safety and security of health-care workers, nurses, patients and visitors very seriously. I think our track record shows that,\u201d Asagwara said.<\/p>\n
The minister pointed to several recent improvements at Seven Oaks and other hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t really see an end goal here. Our goal is to make sure that we continually evaluate and assess the safety and security concerns that nurses have, and take steps consistently to address those concerns in a meaningful way,\u201d Asagwara said.<\/p>\n
Seven Oaks General Hospital published an updated statement on its website about a week ago regarding its security measures, which include a 24-7 security presence and a safe walk program for staff.<\/p>\n
Recent steps include additional secured access points, upgraded lighting in parking areas, an urgent violent care prevention task force and amnesty lockers, where patients and visitors can place weapons or potential weapons.<\/p>\n
Surveillance camera coverage upgrades are underway. An app, known as SAFE, that sends emergency notifications to staff, will be rolled out.<\/p>\n
Nurses at HSC and Thompson enacted grey-listing at those facilities last year, while seeking security or other improvements. Discussions are ongoing, after the hospitals introduced or promised to introduce additional measures, Jackson said.<\/p>\n
HSC\u2019s recent steps include adding more institutional safety officers, a 24-7 police presence, weapon scanners at some public entrances, improved visitor screening and the SAFE app.<\/p>\n
ISOs were recently added at Thompson\u2019s hospital, which has also introduced a security checkpoint at its main entrance.<\/p>\n
Nurses at St. Boniface voted in favour of grey-listing that hospital in February. The measure has not yet been enacted amid ongoing discussions with the employer, Jackson said. ISOs, the SAFE app and parkade patrols are among additional security measures at St. Boniface Hospital.<\/p>\n
Asagwara said the NDP\u2019s 2026-27 budget contains $5 million for additional safety and security improvements, plus funding for additional health-care workers at Seven Oaks and other hospitals.<\/p>\n
ISOs are not in use at Seven Oaks. Asagwara said the government is open to exploring ways to \u201cfurther improve\u201d safety and security, using an evidence-informed approach.<\/p>\n
The minister also cited the need to address safety and security concerns in communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some real sort of fundamental root challenges that are exacerbating what we\u2019re seeing in hospitals that we know we need to address, and our government is taking action on,\u201d Asagwara said.<\/p>\n
The minister sent a letter to the MNU this month to reassure the union that the security measures implemented at Manitoba hospitals are permanent.<\/p>\n
Last summer, Asagwara and Justice Minister Matt Wiebe wrote to federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser to support calls for Criminal Code amendments that would include assaults against health-care workers as an aggravating factor during sentencing.<\/p>\n
A second letter was sent to Fraser this week, a government spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
MNU has said nurses in hospitals across Manitoba have expressed concerns about the increasing frequency of violence and threats against them.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Jackson said a nurse at St. Anthony\u2019s General Hospital in The Pas was punched in the head by a patient, while triaging the person, on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The assault was unprovoked, she said.<\/p>\n
An RCMP spokesperson said officers were called to the hospital shortly after 7 p.m. They arrested a 45-year-old woman for assault.<\/p>\n
The suspect was released on conditions with a pending court date in June. The 37-year-old female victim suffered minor injuries, the RCMP spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Chris Kitching Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
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