'Act of violence': Sask. Nurses Union reacts to anti-vaccination signs at Yorkton hospital

REGINA -

The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) says recent anti-vaccination signs placed on windows and doors at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre are “demoralizing” to healthcare workers.

“It’s a horrible act by very ignorant, uninformed people,” said SUN president Tracy Zambory.

The signs are addressed to all medical practitioners, doctors and nurses. They state healthcare workers will be put “on trial for war crimes and held accountable.”

Zambory says she found out about the signs Tuesday night after a local nurse sent her a text message.

“They felt violated,” Zambory said.

“It was an act of violence on their psyche and on their morale.”

After 20 months working on the frontlines during the pandemic, Zambory says these types of acts add to the stress of the job.

“It has a very deep, negative impact on their own ability to feel good about what they are doing,” she said.

Zambory is encouraging Yorkton residents to show their support and go out of their way to thank healthcare workers.

She has also called on the region’s MLA Greg Ottenbreit to “publicly denounce” the signs and meet with Yorkton’s healthcare workers.

In a statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and condemned threatening tone of the posters and said it’s disappointed in the spread of misinformation

Premier Scott Moe said that the bill the government plans to introduce to prevent demonstrators from blocking access to hospitals could include people who put signs on the doors and windows of hospitals.

“That piece of the legislation is to ensure that we’re protecting that area with an exclusion zone so [demonstrators] aren’t coming in and deny access to the public, but also spreading misinformation,” he said.

Yorkton RCMP said it’s currently investigating the incident and asked people with any information to come forward.

Following the incident, emergency workers recognized local healthcare workers. On Wednesday, approximately 20 emergency services vehicles decorated with streamers, balloons, and hand-written posters were part of a parade to support frontline hospital staff.

Sgt. Erin Lockyer of RCMP Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan led the initiative.

“The parade took us twelve minutes total. If those twelve minutes had even a small impact on someone’s day, that’s all that matters,” she said. “We live in this community and regularly work with our emergency service and healthcare partners. It was a small gesture to show our continues support.”