Nurse attacked in Vancouver General Hospital parkade

A 40-year-old nurse is recovering after being stabbed outside Vancouver General Hospital Monday evening.

A staff member at Vancouver General Hospital was left with serious injuries after being assaulted near the building Monday night, according to police.

The Vancouver Police Department told CTV News it responded to a 911 call just after 7 p.m. and found a woman in her 40s in a parkade next to the hospital.

Police described her injuries as serious, but not life-threatening. Police confirm the woman did sustain significant injuries to her face. She is currently recovering in hospital.

Adriane Gear, president of the BC Nurses’ Union, confirmed to CTV News that the staff member is a nurse and she was stabbed.

“We know that it was a BCNU member that was horribly assaulted,” Gear said. “My understanding is that she remains at hospital at this time.”

“I can’t confirm whether this is a random attack or targeted,” said Gear.

Gear said the incident brings up trauma for many nurses who have faced similar attacks.

“It creates an opportunity for us to have conversation about the prevalence of violence in the health-care system,” she said. “My members have been experiencing increased violence.”

Gear said there have been many severe assaults at Vancouver General Hospital just this year.

“It wasn’t that long ago when a nurse was strangled to a point of unconsciousness at Vancouver General, and just a short while before that there was a student nurse that was stabbed,” she said.

Speaking at a unrelated news conference Wednesday afternoon, Health Minister Josie Osborne called the incident “an absolutely horrific event.”

“We have a lot of questions about this as well,” Osborne said. “I understand a police investigation is underway. It does sound different from other incidents of violence we have seen inside hospitals and inside health-care facilities.”

Osborne says depending on what comes out of the police investigation, the government will respond.

“It is vitally important that we continue to do everything we can to support patients, workers, people visiting grounds, and we are committed to do just that,” she said.

The VPD’s Major Crime Section is investigating and no arrests have been made.

A Vancouver Coastal Health spokesperson said Monday’s attack was an isolated incident, and safety and security of staff remain their top priority. The Health Authority adds the woman is a health-care provider and is currently receiving care at VGH.

Health-care unions have repeatedly raised concern about increasing violence against staff. However, a recent freedom of information request by CTV News revealed no police or government agencies keep statistics on these assaults or criminal charges that may come from them.

Read more: No records kept on assaults on B.C. health-care workers, despite daily incidents

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Penny Daflos