Winnipeg police say they’ve arrested an individual after a physician was assaulted in the adult emergency department of the city’s Health Sciences Centre.
Police told Global News in an email that they responded to a call at a hospital in the 700 block of William Avenue and arrested an individual at around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 12.
They went on to say they could not provide further details on the incident, nor if charges were laid, as an investigation is ongoing.
Shared Health Manitoba said in a statement officers had worked with HSC institutional safety officers to take the individual into custody.
“Any form of assault is unacceptable in a place of work and has a significant impact on all staff,” the statement reads. “Shared Health extends its support to the individual who experienced Friday’s traumatic event and is working with them to provide the support they need.”
The assault occurred barely more than a month after another doctor was assaulted while on the job at the same hospital last month.
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In that incident, officers were asked to help hospital security deal with a patient who had assaulted a doctor on Nov. 2. A woman was arrested and charged for assault with a weapon.
Following the incident in November, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said there was no place for violence in health care.
“Health-care workers should be safe to provide their jobs,” Asagwara said. “They should know they’re going to go to work and be safe at their employment and go home and see their families at the end of the day. Any incident of violence is unacceptable.”
The incidents in the past two months are not the only to have occurred in or around the HSC this year and in August, the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU) voted in August to “grey list” the hospital, discouraging its members from working there due to unsafe conditions.
The move came after four women and a teen girl were sexually assaulted in or around the hospital grounds in July.
The incidents and subsequent move by the nurses union saw the province announce in September it planned to station two Winnipeg police officers in the emergency room at HSC. According to a government news release on Oct. 31, those officers began their presence on Nov. 1.
According to the hospital’s website, the two uniformed officers will be patrolling HSC and the emergency department 24/7, working with its institutional safety officers and Shared Health security team.
In addition, the hospital’s website notes it also would have five weapons detection scanners and a campus-wide notification system for safety alerts.
“Incidents like this serve as a reminder of the challenges healthcare workers face every day,” Shared Health Manitoba wrote. “They also reinforce the importance of our ongoing work to strengthen safety measures and ensure a secure environment for everyone at HSC.”
— with files from Global News’ Sam Thompson
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