Man dumped from wheelchair at hospital
Security company says it does not condone actions of its guards
Niagara Regional Police and the company that provides security at Niagara Health hospitals are now investigating after a video posted on social media was viewed thousands of times, showing security guards dumping a man out of a wheelchair outside the St. Catharines hospital site.
St. Catharines resident Kris Mumby said he was leaving the hospital after an appointment at about 9 a.m., Thursday, when he witnessed what appeared to be a heated interaction between two Paladin Security guards and an unknown man who was sitting in a wheelchair. Mumby pulled out his cellphone to film the scene.
A moment after Mumby began filming the incident, one of the security guards can be seen lifting the back of the wheelchair as the man falls forward, tumbling to the cold, wet sidewalk.
The security company says the man in the video was trespassing and suspected of taking hospital property, leading to the
incident.
Nevertheless, Mumby, Niagara Health and the security company seem to be in agreement that dumping the man to the ground was not an appropriate way of handling the situation.
“Regardless, it’s how they (the security guards) treated the situation,” Mumby said. “Even if he was being rude or whatever, don’t dump him on the ground. That’s not how you treat a human being.”
“It was disgusting.” Mumby said he posted the video on his Facebook site, where it garnered dozens of views and several comments.
But after the video was shared by family friend Lori Davidson, she said at least 8,000 people watched it.
Hundreds more shared the video and numerous people left comments — almost all of them criticizing the response of the security guards, describing it as “completely wrong,” as “terrible,” and “revolting.”
Niagara Health chief communications officer Caroline Bourque Wiley said hospital administration, too, was troubled by Mumby’s video.
“We were very disappointed by what we saw in this video and would like to express our sincere apologies to the individual involved,” she said in an email. “Our expectation is that everyone who comes to our hospital is treated with dignity and respect.”
Bourque Wiley said the health system has been in contact with Paladin Security, instructing management to immediately investigate the situation.
Niagara Regional Police Const. Jesse Vujasic said officers have also been made aware of the video, and are currently investigating.
Paladin Security marketing director Alex Lowe said the company has launched an investigation into the incident, as well.
She said the individual in the video was not a patient at the hospital and was suspected of having taken hospital property — the wheelchair and crutches seen in the video.
“He was trespassing for smoking on hospital property and was known to our security personnel,” Lowe added.
“However, we don’t condone the actions of our staff, so we are following up with a formal investigation into the issue.”