Thank you to the many physicians, students, and residents who work and study on the HSC campus for sharing your experiences and concerns about safety and security. We have carefully reviewed your submissions and have shared an anonymized summary directly with senior leaders in health care, the university, and provincial justice officials, with the goal of making the campus safer for everyone — physically, psychologically, and culturally. Your feedback has been essential to these conversations and will continue to guide health system leaders’ ongoing response. 

What We Heard From You 

While we’ve received and shared safety concerns from HSC for some time, what we heard over the last few weeks has been extremely concerning and reflects the apparent increase in incidents occurring in and around the hospital. You shared incidents that happened in the hospital, as well as outside the hospital and University while moving between buildings, parkades, and transit stops. Incidents like being ​“punched, kicked, and spat on,” or ​“approached, chased, and even assaulted,” and ​“subjected to racist and hateful comments and being verbally abused on an hourly basis.” 

These unacceptable experiences illustrate in more detail the magnitude of the safety issues we uncovered in our Annual Physician Survey this past winter. While keeping in mind this was collected before the latest apparent increase in reported incidents, we found: 

• Within HSC, nearly 30% of physicians reported experiencing an average of 11 physical safety incidents in the previous year. 
• This is nearly double the provincial average of 6.2.
• HSC accounts for nearly 45% of all physical safety incidents reported to us in the previous 12 months. 

What We Are Doing About It 

While we acknowledge we are not experts in security and safety protocols, we know the medical community values evidence, expertise, and engagement. With this in mind, we have suggested that it is vital any steps taken to improve safety and security should be: 

• Grounded in the evidence, including data-driven, research-backed, and proven examples in large health care facilities. 
• Guided by expertise in safety and security. 
• Governed by engagement with, and feedback from, the physicians and medical learners, other health care providers, staff, patients, and community members who are regularly on campus. 

We shared several recommendations with HSC, Shared Health, and University leadership: 

1. Assess Gaps: Use proven methods to identify safety and security gaps, embracing a ​“find and fix” approach to ensure such gaps are addressed quickly rather than waiting for a full report before acting. 
2. Monitor and Report Safety and Progress: Invite physician, student, and staff feedback, summarize and share what was heard, and report back on progress and improvements. Invite and track safety incident reports. Regularly conduct ​“pulse check” surveys about safety issues, sharing analysis and trends of these metrics on a monthly basis. ‘ 
3. Expand and Integrate Safety Presence: Expand visible 24/7 security, police, and community safety group presence, particularly along routes to and from parkades or between buildings, which is a top concern we heard from you. This includes investing in additional community patrolling and community safety resources such as Mama Bear Clan, Bear Clan Patrol, Downtown Community Safety Partnership. 
4. Designate Hospital Safe Zone: Designate the entire campus, parkades, and transit stops as a ​“Hospital Safe Zone,” posting inclusive signage advising visitors of zero-tolerance approach and that ​“enhanced safety measures are in place to ensure everyone feels welcome, safe, and secure.” 
5. Safe Movement Across Campus: Ensure safety between hospital, university, parking and transit locations on the campus with upgraded lighting, CCTV, call boxes, and sightlines, as well as strengthening safe routes through tunnels, escorts, and 24/7 shuttles. 
6. Update Employee Contact Information to Effectively Deploy Real-Time Alerts and Tools: Deploy text alerts and/​or a safety app for physicians, staff, students, faculty, and frequent visitors, which requires developing a robust record of all employees’ phone numbers and email addresses, regardless of whether they are full-time or on contract to ensure safety alerts are received in a timely fashion. 
7. Training and Support: Provide education and resources on violence prevention and safety procedures to all physicians, other health care providers and staff, and incorporate into orientation programs. 
8. Cultural and Inclusive Design: Ensure safety measures avoid ​“enforcement-first” approaches, are welcoming, and are co-designed with staff, patients, and community groups to avoid unintentionally creating harmful barriers. The goal should be both safety and welcoming access for those providing or needing care. 

We can also report that Doctors Manitoba has joined a new collaborative safety and security group of health, university, and justice system leaders set up to address these concerns with concrete action. Our recommendations have been received with thanks by those leaders, and we will continue to collaborate and press for swift action to make the campus safer for everyone. 

The Latest from Shared Health 

We appreciate the latest updates from Shared Health, including the drop-in meetings planned this week on August 26, 27, 28 to hear directly from physicians and staff. We encourage you to share your views with Shared Health, but also ask that you share them with us, in confidence, by emailing practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca. See this memo from Shared Health Interim CEO Dr. Chris Christodoulou about the safety issues and details of the drop-in meetings. Read the memo here.

Going Forward

Watch for updates from HSC/​Shared Health and/​or the University about safety and security to ensure you have the latest on how to stay safe on the campus. 

As a reminder, here are two ways to report security events to HSC: 

• Acute security incident reporting : HSC Security 204−787−4567
• RL6 Incident System Reporting advised for all security events. 

Please continue to share your stories with us, to provide us with updated evidence to guide our advocacy for meaningful and enduring change. If you work at other health facilities in Manitoba and have safety and security concerns, please contact us as well, because all physicians and learners deserve a safe place to work and study across the entire province. 

In addition to emailing us anytime at practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca, our Doc360 Physician Health resources are always available. If you or a colleague are feeling distressed or overwhelmed about the safety situation, or for any other reason, reach out to Doc360 resources. You can access resources at DRMB​.ca/HELP or by calling 1−844−433−3762.