One of four tables full of weapons seized at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. Metal detectors will be installed in multiple ERs, including Prince Albert and Battlefords.(submitted/NDP)

By Susan McNeil

Hospital safety

Prince Albert, Battlefords on list of hospitals to get metal detectors

Jan 22, 2026 | 1:54 PM

People going into emergency rooms in some urban Saskatchewan hospitals, including the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert and the Battlefords Union Hospital will soon have to pass through metal detectors first.

On Thursday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced an expansion of the security system that was put in in place on January 19 at St. Paul’s and Saskatoon City Hospitals and at two hospitals in Regina the following day.

Prince Albert and Battlefords will have the detectors installed in February as will the Regina Urgent Care Centre. Metal detection is currently in use at the joint emergency department entrance at Royal University Hospital (RUH) and Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital (JPCH) in Saskatoon.

“Hospitals should be safe places for our patients, visitors, and the health-care teams who provide care every day,” said Andrew Will, CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority in a news release on Thursday, January 22.

“Safety is a core value of the SHA, and we are committed to strengthening hospital safety and security in response to the increasing complexity and volume of situations requiring intervention by Protective Services. The expansion of metal detection technology is an important step to support safer care environments and prevent weapons from entering emergency departments.”

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The SHA said that there has been an increase in violent incidents and weapons entering emergency rooms and hospitals.

That is not news to the NDP, who released their own statement earlier the same day, following a release last week of first hand accounts of dozens of violent incidents experienced by hospital workers.

They shared photos of four tables full of non-lethal guns, knives, crow bars, machetes, bear spray, drug paraphernalia and alcohol, all seized at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon and with each table representing one month’s worth of seizures by security hospital.

On November 27, a patient at St. Paul’s hospital was found in possession of a gun and three knives and had threatened one worker with a knife directly.

The NDP and the union representing health care workers welcome the metal detectors but also want an emergency safety plan to be put in place by the SHA.

A second table full of weapons. Each table represents one month of seizures at RUH. (submitted/NDP)

The third table. (submitted/NDP)

The fourth table. (submitted/NDP)

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com