St. Joseph’s Healthcare has launched a new public awareness campaign drawing attention to increasing violence against healthcare workers.
The exhibit comes as violence reporting at St. Joe’s has increased by nearly 30 per cent in the last year.
Hospital leaders say that the exhibit was “inspired by disturbing real-life stories of workplace violence” at St. Joe’s.
They add that an average of four St. Joe’s healthcare workers are assaulted every day and that violence against healthcare workers continues to rise across the country.
Officials say that some healthcare workers experience violence from patients nearly every single shift.
Dr. Mike Heenan, President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System, commented on the new exhibit, saying, “Physical, verbal, sexual and racial violence happens to our healthcare workers every single day. And it’s not okay.”
“In many workplaces, violence is a rare occurrence. But for healthcare workers, it is often a daily reality. We don’t put up with violence at coffee shops, on the road, at the gym or in the office. We shouldn’t in healthcare either.”
Heenan says that he starts each morning by reading workplace safety incident reports submitted by healthcare workers across the hospital.
The reports detail violence, sexual harassment, racist slurs, and other unacceptable experiences that healthcare workers are facing.
A press release says that St. Joe’s is also continuing to implement actions within the hospital and advocating that the government work to increase safety.
For example, they are “actively advocating” for the federal government to enact legislation to help keep healthcare workers safe through Bill S-223.
The new bill will ensure that assaults against first responders and healthcare workers will be treated as an aggravating circumstance at sentencing, and it has received unanimous support.
St. Joe’s already has a Workplace Safety Governance Committee, made up of hospital leadership, subject matter experts, a patient and family advisor, and frontline staff who are working on implementing changes to improve safety.
The healthcare organization has reportedly increased the number of security personnel, installed more security cameras, put in additional panic alarms, enhanced safety training, and initiated a third-party review of its safety and workplace violence practices.
The third-party review, conducted in 2025 by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, also made recommendations that are being implemented.
The new violence against healthcare workers exhibit will be displayed at St. Joe’s Charlton campus for approximately two weeks before relocating to the West 5th Campus and then St. Joe’s King Street site.
Further details about the campaign, including first-person stories from healthcare workers, can be viewed at stjoes.ca/violenceprevention.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
