Hillsborough Hospital safety concerns raised

An accreditation report prepared for Health PEI is raising safety concerns around the province's only psychiatric hospital.

The report says Hillsborough Hospital does not meet current building codes and has issues that could be serious.

"Concerns were expressed about the overall safety of the facility," the report reads.

"Issues include narrow doors that are not wide enough for beds to pass through and the use of keyed locks on doors and narrow stairways which would present serious challenges in the event of evacuation."

MLA Olive Crane is calling for immediate steps to improve safety.

"This is a vulnerable population," said Crane.

"We really need to support the staff and the people that live there right away, and to have a real plan in place that will work in case of an emergency, in case something, an act of God, something that happens that's going to impact on those residents, to make sure their safety's there."

Health PEI has hired a consultant to consider the future of the Hillsborough Hospital, and that report is underway.

Health Minister Doug Currie was not immediately available yesterday to speak to this issue, but said he would address it Thursday.

The state of the building, parts of which are more than 50 years old, has been questioned before, and Currie has said it needs to be replaced.