Man charged after allegedly punching B.C. hospital worker

On Thursday night, Michel Brown was working as a care aide in the triage waiting room at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops when she heard a man swearing.

Brown asked the man not to swear.

She says the man got up to leave, and when he passed her, he turned around and allegedly punched her in the face.

"I was in complete shock," said Brown, who has worked at the hospital for more than a year. "I had been sworn at many times, but I've never been punched in the face."

Kamloops RCMP confirmed Camille Gauthier has been charged with two counts of assault and one count of wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

An off-duty officer was in the waiting room and was able to detain a man until Kamloops police officers arrived, according to a statement from the RCMP.

Brown suffered a swollen lip and bruising but said she, fortunately, didn't require stitches. Mentally, she says she's struggling.

"I'm not doing well. I'm not sleeping. It comes up a lot in my head," said Brown, adding that she often replays the incident and wonders what she could have done differently.

"I know I didn't do anything wrong, but it's something I keep thinking about."

She says she hopes that speaking out will shine a spotlight on the dangerous circumstances health-care workers often face.

Interior Health says it was a concerning incident, and its focus is ensuring staff who were involved get the appropriate follow-up and supports.

It says it has trained security staff on site at all times to deal with issues as they arise, and security officers are always present in the Emergency Department. On Thursday night, there were six security guards working.

"Staff and patient safety is a top priority for Interior Health," it said in a statement.

Violence in hospitals has been an ongoing issue in B.C.

In October, the Ministry of Health announced it intended to hire and train 320 in-house protection service officers and 14 violence prevention leads to address increasing levels of workplace violence faced by health-care workers.

At the time, Adrian Dix, B.C.'s minister of health, said there were almost 4,500 reported incidents of violence in the health-care industry.

Dix said the new hires would be deployed to 26 hospitals and mental health facilities across the province.

The Hospital Employees' Union [HEU] says that nearly two-thirds of time-lost claims due to violence-related injury originate in health care or social services, according to WorkSafeBC.

"While incidents like this are shocking, they are not surprising," says Meena Brisard, the secretary-business manager of the HEU.

"The solutions are also not surprising — we need higher levels of staffing in our hospitals and care homes and more mental health and addiction resources in the community."