Provincial Integrated Protection Services (PIPS) is responsible for safeguarding people and infrastructure in all provincial health-care facilities. Security and emergency management systems are coordinated and integrated to always ensure the smooth delivery of health services, even with security issues or disruptions.
Security operations staff maintain professional affiliation with industry associations including the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety, Disaster Recovery Institute and International Association Emergency Managers.
The main components of this program are:
- security operations,
- security systems, and
- health emergency and continuity management.
Security operations
Security operations ensure patient and staff safety. We work closely with health-care teams to assess risks and provide security guidance.
We regularly assess and evaluate the effectiveness of current security measures, identify vulnerabilities and recommend improvements. A key focus is violence prevention, which involves developing strategies and protocols to identify, prevent, and address potential violent incidents.
Health-care security officers are vital to maintain a safe and secure environment and are stationed at several provincial sites. They conduct regular security patrols, manage access control to restricted areas, and respond to incidents or disturbances. Their presence ensures health-care facilities operate without disruption, creating a safe and supportive environment for care.
Security systems
In addition to personnel, security systems involve photo identification, access control, video surveillance information and related processes. We provide strategic advice and guidance on business and video surveillance systems records, and ID access management. We oversee the development of Security Operations Centre(s), which centralize processes for identification, access control, and video surveillance management.
Our security systems team works closely with internal and external partners to ensure video surveillance system information follows provincial privacy legislation.
Health emergency and continuity management
Health emergency and continuity management ensures effective emergency code response and business continuity plans. Specifically, health services maintain a state of readiness to respond and recover from operational disruptions or disasters. We work with other levels of government, departments, agencies and organizations provincially to coordinate responses.