It was a Memo to Nurses in the Northern Health Region that, when I heard about, I doubted its veracity.
“The memo, sent to staff at the G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel on July 7, 2023, says that in light of the province’s decriminalization policy — which applies to anyone in possession of 2.5 grams or less of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine or MDMA — “staff should not be searching a patient’s personal belongings and taking away or holding onto their substances,” the Vancouver Sun reported April 3.
““Patients can use substances while in hospital in their rooms,” the memo stated.
Well, I thought, possessing drugs in hospital is one thing; surely using would be quite another.
““There are reports of meth being smoked in a unit just hours after the birth of a newborn baby,” BC United health critic Shirley Bond told the Legislature.
“The party heard from an Island Health nurse who returned to work after maternity leave and was exposed to smoke from illicit drugs, said B.C. United addictions critic Elenore Sturko. The exposure was so severe, she needed emergency care and was advised to stop breast feeding her infant, The Sun story added.
What??? Drugs …including HARD drugs … being used in BC Hospitals? (And you thought “using” in a Tim Horton’s was bad enough!)
“How many more nurses have to be put at risk and infants exposed to illicit hard drugs in our hospitals before the premier puts an end to this reckless decriminalization experiment?, Bond wondered.”
And believe it or not, under the NDP government’s “bleeding heart” philosophy and policies towards druggies, it’s not only drugs that nurses/staff have been instructed to allow.
“Staff DO NOT remove personal items from the patient’s room, even if there is a knife or something considered as a weapon under (four inches) long,” the memo continued, according to The Sun.
You can read the entire Sun story here: https://vancouversun.com/news/leaked-northern-health-memo-tells-nurses-not-to-confiscate-drugs-or-weapons-from-patients.
How would YOU like to share a hospital ward (or even floor?) with another patient who sneaks into the bathroom for a quick hit of meth or fentanyl … and has a knife in the side table?
Better not make him or her mad!
“Health Minister Adrian Dix mentioned only that health worker safety “is a singular priority of all of us” and that his government had hired 320 “relational security officers” to work at B.C. hospitals,” The National Post reported.
What good is that? Does Dix REALLY believe these 320 new security staff will do any more than step in AFTER a serious or fatal drugs/knifing incident occurs? And then, spend days filling out paperwork.
Absolutely ridiculous! (Just think, if the government was not so hands-off on drugs and weapons, where else in hospitals the money spent on those 320 additional security staff could better be used!)
“Jennifer Whiteside, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, defended B.C.’s ongoing decriminalization experiment by saying “it was never intended … to promote unfettered public drug use.”
She should remember that expression: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
“The B.C. Nurses’ Union says illicit drug use is widespread in hospitals, and it’s putting nurses and patients at risk,” The Sun told its readers.
“Nurses who spoke to Postmedia News said people often use illicit drugs in bathrooms and even in shared rooms next to other patients. Nurses don’t know if they’re walking into a cloud of drug smoke until they’re hit with the acrid smell that often triggers headaches and dizziness.”
And nurses would know … apparently more than the Health Minister, Mental Health and Addictions Minister or the Premier.
In fact, problems with drug use in hospitals have now been reported throughout BC. Read where: https://vancouversun.com/news/nurses-speak-out-about-consequences-of-drug-use-in-hospitals.
And thanks to the NDP‘s “bleeding heart“ policies, it’s not just in hospital where may now find yourself at increased danger.
Just getting there may be a challenge, because since the growth of opioid use in BC, under the NDP’s new policies, ambulances are almost going non-stop each day just dealing with overdoses.
So if YOU have a heart attack or stroke, don’t be surprised if the ambulance is delayed or doesn’t show up, because so many are tied up now dealing with drug use problems.
And as a corollary of the government’s “bleeding heart” drug policies, the numbers of drug-crazed-associated assaults and attacks on innocent civilians have made streets in many communities much more scary and more dangerous, and not just after dark.
Also on this blog, I have pointed out numerous times how the NDP’s “bleeding heart” social policies, along with a wacko far left radical city hall, completely destroyed Vancouver’s Granville Street, from Smyth down to Drake Street.
The BC government bought up several tourist class hotels in the area, filled them with homeless, druggies, and the mentally ill … and then, of course, added a needle exchange and several social service and health facilities right nearby to service these clientele.
It didn’t take long until the shoppers were gone, the diners stayed away, and many of the Granville businesses in that strip folded up …
All of them victims of the NDP’s “bleeding heart” devotion to the poorest among us, the mentally ill and the drug users … turning to the rest of us when it’s time to raise money.
Harv Oberfeld
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to news postings on the Blog.)