St. Paul’s Hospital treated suspect in stabbing spree
Posted February 6, 2013 12:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – St. Paul’s Hospital is answering some tough questions, after a third former patient in one year stands accused of dramatic public violence.
The man accused in last week’s West End stabbing spree had been treated there for mental health issues.
Jerome Bonneric’s lawyer admits the 33-year-old had been at St. Paul’s days before the incident that sent six people to hospital.
Vancouver Police say two women remain in care. A 24-year old is in serious condition and a 28-year old is in stable condition.
Bonneric is charged with 12 counts of assault and is due back in court Thursday.
A man from Alberta who was charged for attacking three women near BC Place in December and a suspect in the stabbing of an elderly victim one year ago are also former St. Paul’s mental health patients.
The hospital maintains it does the best it can with the information it has.
“If there’s any indicators that would predict that a patient is a significant risk of violence or the patient requires admission or further assessment… we would admit that person, we follow our internal processes to protect our patients as well as the community,” says Jennifer Duff, Program Director for Mental Health at Providence Health Care.
Duff points out the three cases represent but a fraction of total mental health patients handled by staff.
“You know, this is a population that we care about and we certainly see a lot of people that present to our hospital with mental health and psychiatric issues.”
She points out St. Paul’s will continue to review its internal procedures, especially following extreme cases like Bonneric.
