The Nipawin Hospital is temporarily closed to the public after a 911 call Thursday night indicated there was a possible explosive in the building, according to Nipawin RCMP. The decision to close the hospital was made Friday morning “in the interest of the safety and security of the patients,” after two more calls were received, according to Kelsey Trail Health Region CEO Shane Merriman.
RCMP officials in Saskatchewan say the initial threat was made at 11:30 p.m. CT Thursday from a female caller. Hours later, a second call came from a person saying they wished to hurt themselves. The third threatening call came at 6 a.m. Friday morning, according to RCMP.
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“On the third call that came in early this morning, it was a woman again whispering in a low voice about a bomb in the hospital,” said Darren Wouters, the Nipawin RCMP detachment commander.
Authorities searched the hospital and found no suspicious materials or explosives, according to Wouters. He said the three calls were made by the same cell phone, however as of Friday afternoon, no one was in custody.
“At this point we have persons of interest,” said Wouters during a media teleconference Friday.
The health region is “working collaboratively with the RCMP to resolve the situation and until that time the hospital and the lodge will remain closed,” according to Merriman. The hospital’s ER is also on bypass.
“If emergency medical services picks up a patient, they would go directly via direction from dispatch to the next hospital,” said Merriman.
Merriman added that as of Friday afternoon, he was not aware of any vehicles that had been redirected. If one were to be, the next nearest hospital would be in Tisdale, Sask., which is roughly a half hour drive away. A very serious injury could send a patient to Prince Albert, according to Merriman.
Merriman said no patients have been evacuated from the hospital, but if the risk assessment of the threats increased, the region would “reconsider evacuation of patients.”