New app touted for hospital safety

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is implementing new safety and security measures at the Brandon Regional Health Centre that include more on-site officers and the launch of a mobile app.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara highlighted a raft of measures — some of which were previously announced — in response to health-care workers’ ongoing concerns about threats and physical attacks on the job provincewide.

“Violence has absolutely no place in health care — none whatsoever — especially against those who are providing care each and every day to Manitobans at the bedside,” Asagwara said at a news conference at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

“Every single health-care worker deserves to feel safe at their jobs on the front lines, and there is no exception to that.”

Dr. Chris Christodoulou, interim president and chief executive officer of Shared Health, said a smartphone app, called SAFE, that launched at HSC in October was expanded to St. Boniface Hospital on Jan. 31 and the Brandon Regional Health Centre on Feb. 2.

He said it will be in use at Victoria Hospital in Winnipeg and Thompson’s hospital within a few weeks.

The app’s features include emergency notifications, a direct line to hospital security, a panic alarm, safe ride or walk requests and the ability for users to share their location with someone else.

A spokesperson for Prairie Mountain Health said the mobile app continues to be promoted to staff at the Brandon hospital. Downloading the app is voluntary, but the regional health authority “strongly” encourages staff to use it.

“Although the rollout of the mobile app is relatively new, PMH security personnel are seeing staff use it, including requests for accompanying safe walks outside BRHC,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Christodoulou said Shared Health is the first health-care organization in Canada to have “very specific and customized deployment” of the app.

“You can’t have patient safety without staff safety. This is a fundamental principle in health care, recognizing that the well-being of the patients … is inseparable from the health and safety of their providers,” he said.

Asagwara said there are 128 total institutional safety officers in Manitoba, with five who will begin working at Thompson’s hospital in March.

A Prairie Mountain Health spokesperson said it has 20 trained ISOs, which include the supervisor and one officer that can substitute in.

PMH previously said it onboarded 17 ISOs in January 2025.

“We continue to work with our partners at Manitoba Health and Manitoba Justice in any discussions surrounding the ISO initiative,” the spokesperson said.

HSC has 60 officers, St. Boniface and Victoria hospitals each have 18 and Selkirk Mental Health Centre has 12.

“Originally, we thought about 100, 105 ISOs would be enough. Very quickly, it became clear we would need more,” Asagwara said.

Amnesty lockers will be installed at hospitals in Thompson and Swan River for patients or visitors who are carrying weapons or items that could be considered weapons.

Promising more announcements, Asagwara said the NDP government has made the “largest co-ordinated safety investment” in Manitoba’s health system.

The minister claimed Manitoba is a “leading jurisdiction” in safety and security measures.

» The Winnipeg Free Press, with files from Tessa Adamski