The hospital committed to safety

The North Bay Regional Health Centre is committed to safety.

That from Hospital President and CEO Paul Heinrich who says they have a number of safety initiatives in place.

He points to a joint health and safety committee, a significant protective services cohort on site, everyone has non-violent crisis intervention training, staff have a number of ways to call for help and he has renewed a commitment to do a review of all staff safety training.

Plus, he says there’s a new program they’re implementing.

The issue has come to light with the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions calling for a nurse to be reinstated after speaking out about working conditions and being attacked by a patient.

Back to the issue of safety, Heinrich says they’re obligated to report every significant incident to the Ministry of Labour, the unions can express concerns and even individuals can express their concerns anonymously.

He says there are appropriate ways through legislation and the Ministry of Labour for “people to make complaints and have a formal way to get them addressed in a expeditious manner.”

Heinrich also says one of the things he hears from the union is that there should be new legislation enacted.

He says he’s “pretty confident that a variety of legislation exists to provide the right remedies to ensure that workplaces are safe. And we are absolutely committed to it.”