Latest news with #DarleneJackson
CTV News
6 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
M.D. of Opportunity offering to pay AHS to transport the dead as bodies lay on the side of the road for hours
The M.D. of Opportunity, a remote municipal district in northern Alberta, is penning a letter to Alberta Health Services (AHS), offering to pay for ambulances to transport people who die in the community to the hospital. They figure this will cost the M.D. around $500 per person and be well worth it. Coun. Darlene Jackson added the item to council's July 9 meeting agenda, because two young men had died in the community recently near a main road in Wabasca. Their bodies lay there, she said, covered with a blanket with their shoes sticking out for six hours. Jackson said she drove past with her grandchildren, who were traumatized. It was also hard on her, she told her council colleagues, and she can't imagine what it was like for the family. 'It's sad and unacceptable,' she said. The reason the bodies lay there for so long, Jackson explained, is that AHS ambulances are no longer allowed to transport dead people. In the past, the ambulance would transport the body, the staff would clean them up, and the family would be allowed to view the body. Viewing the body is important for Cree culture, she added. Reeve Marcel Auger had also driven past the scene as described and could see the effect that seeing the bodies had on his young nephews, who were in the car. 'They get traumatized by it,' he said. 'They know what they are seeing.' The only people allowed to touch the bodies are undertakers or coroners, said Kimball Newberry, Opportunity's acting chief administrative officer. However, the nearest undertakers are in Slave Lake, Athabasca and High Prairie. Slave Lake and Athabasca are both about an hour and half. High Prairie is two hours and forty minutes. Neither case was suspicious, so the body didn't have to stay there for the police to investigate, Jackson said. One died from health reasons by the fishing dock. The other died in a quadding collision. The families weren't even allowed to see the bodies. 'That's been a thing for a number of years,' said Coun. Tahirih Wiebe. In 2018, when her step-father was dying at home (which is what he wanted), the hospital told the family they would be responsible for transporting the body to the hospital. Thankfully, he didn't die at home, she said, otherwise she'd never have used her car again, after transporting him. 'I don't even know if the hospital will take them,' said Wiebe. Council agreed that something needed to be done about the situation. Coun. Gerald Johnson said he knew of a woman who cradled her dead child in the ditch after an accident for hours, waiting for the coroner. The police kept her safe with their vehicles, but couldn't move the body. Coun. Robin Guild suggested writing a letter to AHS. 'It's not right for the bodies to sit there for six hours,' he said. 'I don't understand why,' said Wiebe. 'If you're waiting for an investigator it is one thing.' She mentioned a man who froze to death in another community who was left there for hours. As a temporary measure, Auger suggested that the M.D. ask police if they have a pop-up tent they could put over people and maybe a fan to keep the body cool when it is hot. Wiebe said the M.D. fire department responds to calls, so they could maybe set up the tent. Pearl Lorentzen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeside Leader
Global News
03-07-2025
- Global News
Winnipeg police seek suspect after 4 women sexually assaulted near HSC
Winnipeg police are looking for a suspect who is alleged to have sexually assaulted four women in a 45-minute span Wednesday night near the Health Sciences Centre (HSC). It happened between 7 and 7:45 pm, when police say a teenage girl and three HSC staff members were all assaulted by an unknown man. Around 7 p.m., a teen girl was walking in the area of Elgin and Sherbrook, when she was confronted by an unknown man and sexually assaulted. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy At around 7:12 p.m., a female staff member was walking east on William near Furby when she was assaulted. Two more female staff members were assaulted at around 7:42 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. One of them was walking in the hospital tunnels, while the other was walking south on Emily from McDermot. Story continues below advertisement Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson says it's especially concerning that someone was assaulted in the tunnels. 'It's frightening going to work where you have to watch out for your safety getting into your workplace,' Jackson told 680 CJOB's The News. 'Now we have people that are afraid to be in the workplace and it's also frightening that the staff were not alerted to the fact that there was someone who may be on the property. That memo didn't come out until this morning.' The suspect is described as a man in his 20s, with a slim build and dark hair. He was wearing a Jets shirt and had jewelry on. Anyone with information about the suspect can call the Sex Crimes Unit at 204-986-6245 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS or
CBC
03-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
4 random sexual assaults reported in, around Health Sciences Centre on Wednesday
The head of the Manitoba Nurses Union says safety at Winnipeg's largest health-care facility isn't getting any better, after reports of several random sexual assaults in and around the hospital Wednesday night. Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson says a nurse reached out on Thursday, saying that a colleague had been assaulted in the tunnels of the Health Sciences Centre shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday. Later Thursday, Winnipeg police said four similar sexual assaults took place in and around the HSC campus over a period of less than an hour Wednesday night. Jackson said she's concerned that Shared Health did not notify hospital staff of the assaults until Thursday morning. The nurse who informed the union of the tunnel assault told her that the assailant was not found that night and may have remained there afterwards, Jackson said. "One of the nurse's biggest concerns was, why weren't people on shift notified that this had happened in the tunnels?" the union president told CBC News Thursday. "Patients, families, visitors — they're all at risk if this is happening in the tunnels." In a new release sent Thursday afternoon, Winnipeg police said four sexual assaults in and around the HSC campus were reported between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday. Around 7 p.m., a teenage girl was sexually assaulted by an unknown man near Elgin Avenue and Sherbrook Street, police said. Less than 15 minutes later, a staff member was confronted by an unknown man who sexually assaulted her near William Avenue and Furby Street, according to police. Another staff member was walking in the hospital's tunnels about half an hour later when she was also confronted by an unknown man who sexually assaulted her, police said. Just a few minutes later, a third staff member was sexually assaulted by an unknown man as she was walking on Emily Street, a short street between McDermot and Notre Dame avenues. The attacker is described as a man in his 20s with a slim build and dark hair, police said. He was wearing a Winnipeg Jets jersey and had jewelry on. Police are asking anyone with information on the assaults to contact the sex crimes unit at 204-986-6245, or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online. Regular patrols: Shared Health The safety of the underground tunnels, and the core-area hospital overall, have been a concern among staff "for a very long time," Jackson said. "The HSC is an incredibly unsafe facility in a very high-crime neighbourhood, and it's not getting any better," she said. A Shared Health spokesperson said the health authority is aware of the recent assaults and is offering support to anyone affected, adding the incidents will be reviewed to identify ways to make the hospital campus safer.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Nurses rally by the hundreds to say Manitoba's health-care system hasn't improved under NDP
Nurses crammed the steps of the Manitoba Legislature and brought along a cheeky slogan to try to capture the attention of a provincial government they say is excluding them. "Same shift, different day," hundreds of nurses chanted in unison Wednesday afternoon, while carrying signs relaying the same slogan but with the letter "f" in "shift" crossed out. Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said the sassy slogan was crafted with one audience in mind. "What we're finding is the only way we get the government's attention is by actually either shaming them or coming out and being edgy and very pointed," she told reporters. Before the NDP was elected in 2023, Jackson said the union was fielding "continuous phone calls" from the then opposition party, which said fixing the province's beleaguered health-care system would be its top priority. But 18 months later, "we hear from our nurses on a daily basis that we are not seeing any appreciable change to health-care," said Jackson. Their frustrations boiled over at the rally, where nurses clad in pink waved signs, chanted and shouted. Their central message: the health-care system hasn't improved in any noticeable way, despite what the NDP government is saying. "Too many of us are leaving shifts with hearts heavy, bodies broken and nothing left to give," Jackson told the rally, prompting some nurses to shout "shame." "It's the same damn shift every single day." Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara was in the crowd, and after the rally heard from one nurse who was disappointed Premier Wab Kinew wasn't in attendance as well. When asked by reporters about the message nurses were sending, Asagwara said it was "important" to hear. "I know that nurses want more, and they deserve more," the minister said. "Our government is going to keep listening to them and taking action so that we can make health care the best place it can possibly be." Almost 600 new hires: minister Asagwara said the province has hired nearly 600 net new nurses over the last year, but the nurses' union repeated that its members haven't seen a difference in their workload. Kimberly Ross, a psychiatric nurse at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, said her working conditions have worsened in the last year and a half. She worries violence against nurses is becoming normalized. "Nurses are traumatized. The things that we have to witness and the things that we have to endure, unfortunately, are toxic and terrible." Jackson said the union has been trying to sit down with government to discuss its issues, but "we have been absolutely frozen out." "We're not going to continue to keep nurses in health care if we don't change culture. That was a huge promise made, and nothing's happened to change culture," she said. "We have to speak out, and we have to be edgy to get what we need." Disagreement over last meeting Jackson alleged she hasn't had a face-to-face meeting with Asagwara in "months," which Asagwara later disputed by saying the two met last Friday. A union official explained the two were in the same room for a committee, chaired by Tuxedo MLA Carla Compton, involving both the nurses' union and government. But that doesn't count as a meeting between the two of them, the union official said. One area Jackson and Asagwara both agreed on is a desire for progress around nurse-patient ratios. B.C. and Nova Scotia have worked to develop guaranteed staffing levels, and a few speakers at Wednesday's rally recommended the same tactic in Manitoba. In the last round of contract negotiations, Manitoba's nurses successfully bargained for a committee to study the idea. Asagwara told reporters they expect to receive recommendations from the union by early next year. Nurses rally at Manitoba Legislature to protest lack of improvement in health care 1 hour ago Duration 1:41 Hundreds of Manitoba nurses attended a rally at the legislature to call on the provincial government to "step up" and make notable improvements to a health-care system it promised to fix.
Global News
07-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
Nurses union bemoans lack of health-care progress in Manitoba, rally planned
More than 500 Manitoba nurses are expected to attend a rally at the legislature Wednesday, calling for changes in the province's health-care system. Despite a change in provincial government almost two years ago, the Manitoba Nurses Union says its members are still encountering the same broken health-care system shift after shift and that they are feeling disappointed and frustrated with the lack of progress. President Darlene Jackson told 680 CJOB's The Start that wait times are up and workplace violence is increasing, turning many nurses away from the profession. 'There's probably not a shift in the last year that there hasn't been violence in some facility, or probably all facilities, some type of violence … and that is massive. 'Nurses are leaving because of it. I had one nurse that said to me, 'I loved my job at the Health Sciences Centre, but I'm not putting my life at risk to go to work.'' Story continues below advertisement Jackson said promises made by the NDP government have, so far, seemed empty, and nurses are growing more frustrated as morale continues to deteriorate. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We are still seeing nurses working short with the incredibly heavy workloads — mandated overtime and tons of voluntary overtime is still a thing,' she said. 'Our wait times are rising eyery year. They rose again this year. Nurses are frustrated because we truly hoped that we would see some big differences in health care based on the promises and we're just not seeing that.' Jackson, who has been a nurse since 1981, told The Start the state of health care in the province is now worse than it was in the 1990s when nurses went on strike. While the MNU says it would give the province's current health care situation a D-minus grade, a spokesperson for Doctors Manitoba said that organization has a slightly more positive view. 'Looking at the evidence we have on health care, and considering there was a pandemic and years of disruption and underfunding, Doctors Manitoba would grade the progress of the last 18 months as a B-minus — improvement still needed, but on the right track,' they said in a statement. The spokesperson said Manitobans still have reasons to have concerns about the system — with 'unreasonably long' wait times and hospitals experiencing service closures, plus burnout among doctors. Improvement has been seen, however, as far as recruitment to turn around the doctor shortage and wait-time improvements in certain areas. Story continues below advertisement 'There's still a lot that as to get better, but it's safe to say Manitoba is on the right track when it comes to improving health care,' the statement said. Global News has reached out the premier and health minister for comment.
