WATCH: A brutal attack on a Penticton doctor by a patient is prompting calls for more security at psychiatric facilities and as John Daly reports, experts say this is not an isolated incident.
PENTICTON – A doctor has been hospitalized following a violent altercation with a patient at Penticton Regional Hospital on Friday.
Dr. Richard Halpenny of the Interior Health Authority says the attack occurred during a routine interview between the doctor and a patient in the hospital’s psychiatric department. Penticton RCMP say the doctor suffered a broken jaw and other facial injuries as a result of the attack.
Gregory Stanley Nield, 30, has been charged with assault causing bodily harm and aggravated assault. He appeared in Penticton Provincial Court this morning and is scheduled to appear in court again Tuesday.
According to BC Nurses’ Union president Gayle Duteil, “nurses on the scene said the patient calmly walked out of a closed-door session and announced the doctor might be dead.”
The IHA will be working with the RCMP and WorkSafeBC to conduct a full review of the incident. In the wake of what it calls a “horrific attack,” the BC Nurses’ Union is demanding that the IHA provide personal alarms for staff, security specifically assigned to psychiatric units. and security cameras.
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