Suspects are both male patients, says report
A health-care worker was seriously injured in an alleged assault involving two patients at an Edmonton psychiatric hospital on Christmas Day, in an incident now under criminal and workplace safety investigation.
Edmonton police were called just before 2 a.m. on Dec. 25 to Alberta Hospital Edmonton, an addiction and mental health facility in the city’s northeast, after an assault inside the hospital involving two male patients, CBC reported.
A male staff member was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and has since been released, police said. Two male suspects were arrested and charges are pending, according to the report.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) described the case as “a violent workplace attack which left an essential health-care worker injured and left staff at the facility traumatised,” in a statement cited by the publication.
Charges are pending, according to the report.
Alberta Hospital Edmonton is a 300-bed psychiatric, addiction and mental health facility now operated by Recovery Alberta following a provincial restructuring of the health-care system, CBC noted. Details on exactly where the incident occurred within the hospital and further information about the two patients allegedly involved remain limited.
Recovery Alberta confirmed to CBC that “a staff member was seriously injured during the incident involving two patients, and emergency protocols were immediately activated.”
The agency said, “Recovery Alberta treats workplace violence with the utmost seriousness, and the safety of our staff and patients is a top priority. While incidents of this nature are rare, any occurrence is taken extremely seriously.”
The organization said it would not comment further “out of respect for the investigation and the worker’s privacy,” adding: “Our focus remains on supporting the injured employee and all affected staff, while ensuring patients continue to receive safe, appropriate care.”
Meanwhile, the AUPE has criticized Recovery Alberta’s response, saying it believes the employer failed to follow required serious-incident reporting procedures. “We are incredibly disappointed at Recovery Alberta’s failure to follow established processes to report serious incidents,” the union said, according to the report. “The employer did not comply with critical steps that immediately follow such incidents, which then delayed outreach and support for AUPE members.”
