A robbery at Pasqua Hospital has led to debate in Saskatchewan’s Legislature over emergency room safety across the province.
At around 6:30 a.m. on March 10, police were called to the 4100 block of Dewdney Avenue in Regina after a man wielding a bladed weapon was reported in the waiting area of the hospital.
According to police, the suspect stole a woman’s bag and fled the scene before being apprehended by hospital security staff and arrested by officers.
The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, told CTV News she did not surrender her bag and that it took three hospital security guards to take down the suspect.
“I was in the middle of getting my blood pressure and my oxygen taken and a guy comes up to me and says, ‘Give me your bag’ and shows the saw blade and I literally jumped out of [the] chair so fast,’” the victim explained.
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The incident raised questions at legislature – surrounding the security of Saskatchewan’s hospitals.
The opposition took the opportunity to challenge the government’s approach on the issue.
“People waiting in a waiting room have enough to worry about with long wait times and health care – now they have to worry about their own safety,” NDP MLA Vicki Mowat said during question period on Wednesday.
Health Minister Everett Hindley spoke to reporters following question period. He said the ministry is aware of the incident and discussions have taken place with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).
“Unfortunately, this is becoming more common in some places – perhaps than in the past – and so we want to ensure that the staff and the patients that are in these facilities aren't subjected to these sorts of incidents,” he explained.
“It is obviously very concerning for us as a government that we want to ensure that we can support the SHA and our partners to make sure that they do are able to maintain safety in their hospitals.”
Mowat said she believes the first step is listening to those on the front lines.
“These issues have been raised a number of times with the ministry, and we need to start listening to health care workers,” she told reporters following question period.
“When you look at the sheer numbers of how many people are in emergency rooms, waiting to access care, it's, it puts a lot of pressure on the nurses that are triaging folks … It puts a great deal of pressure on them and adds a level of concern about safety.”
A survey conducted by the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) in 2022 found that 72.8 per cent of those questioned had a greater concern with safety in the workplace.
Of those surveyed, 72.5 per cent had feelings of anxiety and helplessness on the job while 77 per cent had feelings of frustration and anger about their workplace in general.
“Our whole system sort of converging in the emergency rooms means that those waiting rooms have become very different spaces lately,” Mowat said.
“What we've been hearing from health care workers is that they have been quite concerned about their safety.”
