The B.C. Health Ministry is adding an extra $2 million to improve security at four facilities identified as having the highest risk for violence.
Extra staff, new alarms and violence prevention training will be among strategies for Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam, Hillside Centre in Kamloops, Seven Oaks Tertiary Mental Health in Victoria and Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
Eight more health facilities have been identified as priorities for additional help, and more are expected to be identified this fall.
B.C. Nurses’ Union president Gayle Duteil said increased staffing around the clock will mean nurses will no longer have to work alone. She said violence is a risk for all health-care facilities in the province, including residential care.
“Health care workers as a whole receive the highest number of WorkSafeBC injury claims for violence-related injuries across this province,” Duteil said.
“They actually have more injuries than police officers related to violence.”
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