A memo has been circulated among staff at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) warning nurses and other medical staff to take measures to protect themselves against anti-vaccine protesters.
While it’s not clear who is behind the memo, it does mention an incident involving a nurse who was verbally assaulted in the community on her day off and nearly driven off the road.
The memo states, “the only thing that identified her was her IH (Interior Health) parking pass hanging on her rear view mirror.”
At a recent event supporting health-care staff, a KGH nurse named Paula told Global News that nurses are being targeted.
“Our masks are being pulled off, we’re being spat on, we’re being ridiculed,” she said.
“A colleague this week was run off the road because she had Interior Health parking sticker on the back of her vehicle. Scary times. Scary times.”
The memo advises staff to remove their IH parking tags from their vehicles when health-care workers are out and about in the community,
IHA said it is working with employees to raise awareness and share information on the kind of precautions staff can take but did not elaborate on what those precautions are.
The health authority called the acts sad and shameful.
It added that when it comes to the parking around the hospital itself, security conducts regular patrols and that there’s video surveillance on site.
The Hospital Employees’ Union said it was not aware of hospital staff being targeted.
The B.C. Nurses’ Union said no one was available to comment Wednesday.
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