'Completely gutted all of us': Crisis centre staff want change after violent sexual assault of nursing student

This story contains descriptions of sexual assault that some people may find disturbing.

Staff at a Winnipeg facility that treats people experiencing mental crisisare demanding safer working conditions, after a student nurse was violently sexually assaulted by a patient in January.

Winnipeg police have charged a29-year-old man with sexual assault and assault after the incident at the Crisis Response Centre on Bannatyne, adjacent to the Health Sciences Centre. The 24/7 facilityfor mental health emergencies operates closely with the HSC emergency department.

"It destroyed her life," a staff member who was aware of the attack, but is not the victim, told CBCon the condition of anonymity.

"She's probably one of the sweetest, kindest, incredibly smart, very capable people I've ever worked with, and has much higher aspirations for health care. How she keeps putting one foot in front of the otheris really beyond me right now."

CBC spoke to other staff members as well to confirm the details of the event.

Worker attacked in laundry room

The young woman, a nursing student employed as a crisis support worker at the centre, was working the night shift on Jan. 5. The patient accused was being held overnight.

He had exposed his genitals to a worker earlier that day, staff said. The night shift staff were unable to get him admitted to the HSC that evening.

Throughout the night, the man behaved erratically several times, said staff, includingwanderingout of his room naked.

It's really difficult to show up for work every day knowing your employer is not doing everything they can to keep you safe. - Crisis Response Centre worker

At around 4 a.m., he wandered naked into the hall again.

The young crisis supportworker walked toward him and tried to redirect himto his room. When he ignored her, she went to the laundry closet in the hall to get a towel to cover him,staff told CBC.

The staff member said the patient grabbed the victimand she started screaming.

A security officer ran to intervene.

The patient began sexually assaulting the young worker in the laundry room, grabbing repeatedly at her body.

Someone activated a panic alarm, which alerted Health Sciences Centre security officersabout a five-minute walk away and someone called 911. The security officersarrived to try to help the crisis centre staffremove the man from the woman, but she was trapped.

The crisis centre security officer got punched several times in the face. Eventually, the workers were able to free the young woman and usher her into another room.

The staff member told the CBC the entire attack lasted between five and 10 minutes.

"The incident itself was awful," said the staff member, addingnot enough has changed, six months later."That completely gutted all of us."

Staff asked for changes

In the weeks and months following the attack, staff asked managers and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority officials for several changes to the Crisis Response Centre structure and protocols, including:

• Training in Code White (violent incident) procedures.
• Standardized communication of violence/sexual behaviours to all staff at shift change.
• A lock for the laundry room door.
• Surveillance video feed of hallway visible at thefront desk.
• Admission of all high-acuity, non-compliant psychiatric patients to Health Sciences Centre.

The staff member CBC spoke with said there's frustration at the centre over the lack of response so far, despite a growing number of patientsand increasedlevelsof violence.

Although it appears that incidents of violence are being investigated, it does not appear that adequate control measures have been implemented to eliminate or control the risk of violence to workers.- Workplace Safety and Healthreport

An inspection was done by Workplace Safety and Healthin June, prompted by a concern aboutsecurityat the CRC,according to a provincialspokesperson.

The report ordered that the provincial Shared Health organization alter the design of the building and/or processes to eliminate the risk of violence, implement recommendedchanges after each investigationinto violent incidents, and provide an annual report on all violent incidents to a workplace safety committee.

It also highlighted that while security staff at the CRCare protected by anenclosure, front desk staff are not, and patients are not screened at admission for weapons.

The compliance date for the orders is July 8.

"Although it appears that incidents of violence are being investigated, it does not appear that adequate control measures have been implemented to eliminate or control the risk of violence to workers," the report states.

There have been other recent violent incidents at the centre.

Last summer, a man stabbed a security officer at the Crisis Response Centre with a syringe filled with blood.

In May, Winnipeg police used a Taser to disarm a knife-wielding man who was threatening front desk staff. They said he was under the influence of methamphetamine and alcohol.

Safety 'our first priority': Shared Health

A spokesperson for Shared Health Services would not comment on the sexual assault as it is an ongoing police investigation.

"Work on clinical safety practices, with the involvement of CRC management and staff, is ongoing," said Olivia Baldwin, on behalf of Shared Health.

That includes more campus patrols of the Health Sciences Centre by HSC security (which staffs the CRC), and increased security presence at shift change, she said.

There's also work being done between clinical leaders and police to support patientswhomay require more intensive services at Health Sciences, said Baldwin. She said management acknowledge the need for changes to the space, facility access and security at the centre.

Video monitoring, secure elevator access, restricted access to the front desk,and additional panic alarmsare in the works for the Crisis Response Centre, she said, and storage lockers for patients' personal belongings were recently added. An additional locked room is being added to the HSC for mental health patients, she said.

"The safety of our staff and the patients/clients we care for is our first priority," said Baldwin, adding conversations with staff on their suggestions for safety improvements will continue.

'Same level of risk'

"They've taken this very seriously they've made some changes. We're still waiting on some structural changes that need to be done," said Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents crisis support workers.

"This is an extreme case. That said, it shouldn't have happened," she said.

"This young girl deserved to go home safe at the end of her shift."

The staff member CBC spoke with said while amirror was installed in the hallway on the unit andtwo staff members are now required to check on a patients' well-being instead of one,workersare still waiting ontraining to deal with violent incidents and a lock on the laundry room door.

The staff member said knowledge ofCode White procedures would help workers co-ordinate their responseto restrain a patientand would allow a nurse, if required in an emergency, togive a medicationinjection to sedate the patient.

The workersaid the impact of the assault on the young woman has been huge and something she'll likely carry for the rest of her life.

"There's still people working this job that I care about greatly. And there's still the same level of risk."