MNU continues push for safety officers at Swan River hospital

A union representing nurses in Manitoba continues to push for institutional safety officers to be hired at Swan River’s hospital to de-escalate any violence and security issues.

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said she has been advocating for ISOs to be placed in the Swan Valley Health Centre since hearing about incidents related to increased drug use and violence in the ER more than a year ago.

One of the latest incidences occurred in November when RCMP were called to Swan River’s ER for a report of an intoxicated man who had locked himself in the bathroom and was wielding a knife, an RCMP news release said.

“One thing that facilities are finding is, when the ISOs are in place, their incidents of violence and abuse in the areas where they are become less,” Jackson said.

ISOs are licensed as peace officers and require training in crisis intervention, de-escalation techniques, investigation skills, collecting evidence and report writing.

Jackson said she would like to see about two ISOs staff the Swan Valley Health Centre 24-7.

Instances of physical and verbal abuse against nurses — including spitting, punching, pushing, threatening and shouting — are becoming more common across the province, she said.

“We’re seeing quite a bit of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) within our front-line health-care workers just because of the amount of violence that are in our facilities.”

Jackson said it’s up to Prairie Mountain Health to ask for provincial funding for ISOs.

“Let’s be clear, none of these efforts to provide safety come without a price tag. So, it’s all about providing funding and resources from government to these employers,” she said.

Brandon is the only city outside of Winnipeg that has ISOs in a health-care facility, a PMH spokesperson said in a statement.

Prairie Mountain Health onboarded 17 trained ISOs in January 2025, the spokesperson said.

Brandon Regional Health Centre has dealt with at least two safety incidents during the past year.

In March, a 21-year-old man who required medical attention became belligerent and threatening with hospital staff in the ER before leaving the facility. A month later, a nurse in the ER was choked and nearly stabbed with a needle by a patient.

The Brandon Sun reached out to Manitoba RCMP and the Brandon Police Service regarding the number of calls it receives about safety incidents at health-care facilities.

An RCMP spokesperson was unable to provide data by press time and BPS could only provide raw numbers for total calls to the hospital, which include non-safety-related incidents.

Jackson said she hasn’t heard of any recent safety incidents in Brandon, but she encourages members in all regional health facilities to contact the union if they experience any violence or safety concerns.

While safety incidents are occurring in some hospitals in Prairie Mountain Health, Jackson said none of the work sites have approached the union to inquire about grey-listing.

“We haven’t heard from anyone, but you know, when things happen, then often the work site will go to the employer and say, ‘This incident happened and we need this done,’” she said.

In about two weeks, nurses at Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Hospital will vote on whether to grey-list it after the union board of director authorized the request on Monday, Jackson said.

Grey-listing is a union declaration that lets other health-care workers know that a workplace doesn’t provide a safe environment and advises staff not to take jobs or accept available shifts there.

If the nurses vote to grey-list St. Boniface Hospital, it would be the third facility in Manitoba with the union’s designation, joining the Thompson General Hospital and Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre.

Nurses at the hospital in Thompson voted 97 per cent in favour of grey-listing in November, and nurses at HSC voted 94 per cent in favour of grey-listing the facility in August.

“Our members and our patients and all health care workers deserve to have a safe place to work and a safe place to receive care,” Jackson said.

She told the Sun that she has heard from nurses who quit working at HSC and switched to another facility where they felt safer. She hasn’t heard whether any nurses have moved to Brandon or other rural communities in Westman due to safety concerns in areas like Winnipeg or Thompson.

She said safety concerns do play a factor in the recruitment and retention of nurses.

Jackson said she plans to speak with members in Swan River and Dauphin in mid-February to learn more about what concerns they are experiencing.

The Brandon Sun reached out to the health minister for comment on Tuesday, but not did hear back before press time.

» tadamski@brandonsun.ca