Second attack at St. Joe’s West 5th campus

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Two staff members at St. Joseph’s hospital on the mountain were attacked yesterday in the second case of patient-staff abuse at the West 5th campus in less than a week.

Lisa Ranch recently retired after 35 years of nursing at St. Joseph’s hospital. Yesterday, about 20 peers informed her that two nurses were attacked. One’s head reportedly hit against the ground by a patient in the medium security forensics unit yesterday around noon.

“When I first heard about the incident it angered me.”

There’s no word how the nurses are currently doing. The unit is for people with mental health disorders who require consultation and assessment in regards to standing trial, criminal responsibility and sentencing giving the president of the hospital reason to believe this was a random incident.

“In these circumstances I believe that this was an unpredictable behaviour event.” said President of St. Joesph’s hospital Dr. Dave Higgins.

However, people working that day say this could have been prevented after a nurse called in sick and wasn’t replaced.

“They do not replace staff member if there’s just one sick call. You’re asking for people to get hurt when you put them in that situation.”

Dr. Higgins says replacements are brought in on a situational basis.

“If possible and appropriate and the unit is not as busy as it might be if a sick call comes in, they might not be replaced and that’s at the discretion of the manager.”

The hospital says the unit was fully staffed at the time of the attack. This is the second case of violence at the West 5th campus in a week.

Last Wednesday, two nurses sustained concussions after a patient in the showcase mental health facility punched both of them repeatedly in the head.

“We have to look carefully on how we do things, review our processes, our policies and these circumstances. We do the very best we can to deliver great care and deliver a safe environment for staff to be here.”

The hospital is now working with the Ministry of Labour to find how they can prevent future incidents.