North Bay police often forced to spend hours in hospitals for mental-health patient handovers
North Bay police Chief Daryl Longworth is hoping to meet with the city hospital’s CEO to discuss ways of streamlining the handover of mental-health patients.
At the police services board meeting Tuesday morning, Longworth said police spent more than 260 hours in two months at the North Bay Regional Health Centre waiting to transfer mental-health patients apprehended by police.
“We have a wonderful mental-health response through the police service here where we're partnered with mental health workers and nursing staff that work with and partner with our officers,” Longworth said.
Statistics showed that officers spent 117 hours at the hospital in January and 151 hours in February. That creates staffing problems on the ground, he said.
“The number of officers we have on the street is significantly diminished when we have to have officers tied up at the hospital,” he said.
“It's part of the Mental Health Act, which requires (police) to be there until they're accepted by the hospital.”
He’s hoping to meet with hospital CEO Paul Heinrich to discuss the matter.
“So it's just a conversation to see how we can speed up the process at both ends to get our officers back on the street,” Longworth said.
“My intention is to meet the CEO because I'm new here. There's a number of people in the organization and the community I'd like to meet and the CEO of the hospital is certainly one.”
Longworth added he would like to see a more streamlined process to make better use of both hospital of police resources.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau acknowledges charges in Nijjar killing, calls for commitment to democracy
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the charges laid Friday in relation to the murder of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Princess Anne lays wreath at B.C. veteran's cemetery; receives 21-gun salute
Princess Anne paid tribute to veterans buried at a cemetery in British Columbia today, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
Mystik Dan wins the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in a three-horse photo finish
Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, edging out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the upset victory.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.