Feb. 1: Report on Death of Mental-Health Worker by Client Released

A female mental-health worker was strangled to death by a client with a long history of unpredictable, violent behaviour, and who weighed 300 pounds and stood 6’5′. Judge Bart Rosborough conducted a fatality inquiry and released his report, which says that ‘direct and immediate failings’ contributed to the worker’s death. He recommends that:

• Workers shouldn’t be assigned to care for people they can’t physically manage
• Women shouldn’t be assigned to care for clients who’ve demonstrated aggression toward females
• The government should have an outside agency review how the province shares information when it has safety concerns about people in care
• The government should also complete a report on how it has followed up on all Alberta fatality inquiry recommendations.