Hospital backtracks on staff muzzling
Stanton administration acknowledges union rep has right to speak after admonishing her for commenting on emergency room violence
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, December 10, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Union of Northern Workers is claiming a free speech victory after a nurse practitioner was admonished for speaking out on incidents of violence at Stanton Territorial Hospital.
This comes a week after Sheila Laity spoke to Yellowknifer about violence directed at nurses and other staff by patients in the Stanton emergency ward.
Brenda FitzGerald, chief executive officer of Stanton Territorial Hospital, issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging union representatives, when acting in their official capacity, have the right to speak publicly on matters that affect their members. The territorial government has met with the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) to discuss this issue and the hospital authority will clarify this matter directly with the employee, she wrote.
Todd Parsons, UNW president, confirmed a meeting had taken place between the union and representatives of the Department of Human Resources with the GNWT. He characterized Stanton's initial position as a "misunderstanding."
Parsons said that Laity, president of UNW local 11, which represents unionized workers at Stanton, was called into a non-disciplinary meeting where hospital management explained to her that speaking to the media without written permission violated the GNWT's code of conduct.
Parsons said hospital administrators now acknowledge that she was speaking as a union rep, not an employee.
He added the collective agreement between the GNWT and the union allows her to do so and the
code does not apply.
On the larger issue of nurses and other staff at Stanton being subjected to physical and verbal abuse, Parsons said the union must be part of any solution.
"I think it is imperative that Stanton staff work with the union to improve safety at the hospital," he said.
"I have heard informally that union reps have been involved in meetings being held by the hospital's health and safety committee."
Parsons said that first and foremost, management at Stanton have to acknowledge its policies and procedures and must protect the staff, 24 hours and day, day in and day out.
Laity spoke to Yellowknifer after an incident Nov. 20 in which a patient went on a rampage in Stanton's emergency department, smashing thousands of dollars worth of equipment and prompting staff to retreat behind a locked door.
After getting the green light to speak to the media as a union rep, however, Laity declined to comment on the hospital changing its stance when contacted by Yellowknifer on Tuesday.
MLAs concerned about lack of security guard legislation
In an interview with Yellowknifer last week, Dr. Anna Reid, medical director for the Stanton Territorial Health Authority, said territorial legislation, or a lack of it, prevents security guards from becoming physically involved in an altercation at the hospital.
She said she believes that until legislation is put in place, that will continue to be the case.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said he and his staff spent time last week researching the issue.
"What we found out was that it appears the NWT and Nunavut are the only two jurisdictions in Canada that do not have legislation governing security guards," said Hawkins.
"Without any government regulations, everybody is at risk – the security guards and the public," he said. "But at the same time, in the absence of legislation, I don't seen anything preventing security guards from getting involved. Private individuals can make a citizen's arrest. Those same rules should apply here."
Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny agrees with Hawkins.
"If my wife worked at Stanton I'd be nervous about her safety as she headed out for work every day," he said.
"There are many constituents of mine in Range Lake who work at Stanton. I'm very concerned about this issue on their behalf as well. If there is no legislation governing security guards in the NWT then it's something that should be looked at."
Dolynny said, however, that there is a lot on the legislative table as it is, so he is uncertain whether legislation dealing with security guards can be drafted before the current legislative assembly ends next fall.
