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Police were called to Palmerston North Hospital last Friday after a man got into the back of a nurse’s car with a gun.
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Palmeston North Hospital staff are “scared” and want improved security after a man who wielded weapons threatened his colleague who was walking to the car after Friday night shift.
The Nurses Union said it has raised concerns about the team’s parking lot for months.
Health NZ said it was working to improve security.
Police were called around 11 pm on Friday, after a man entered the back seat of the woman’s car and pointed to her a gun, telling her to drive.
She drove a short distance before leaving the car and asked for help in a nearby house.
The man fled on foot.
Rnz understands that the woman was a nurse.
An employee of the hospital, which RNZ agreed not to name, said the team was “scared” with what happened.
Employees told management that they were concerned about the safety of their cars at night in the dark, he said.
He believed the hospital was trying his best, and he understood that people could call security and ask for an escort.
“Enhanced security would be good,” he said.
“Hospital staff are almost used to this kind of thing right now. It’s a pity.”
The organization of NZ Palmerston North North Hospital DELEGATE PIP FISSENDEN said it has been asking for improvements in the parking lot for a year.
The workers were struggling to find employees parks in Wilson’s parking lot because it was too full, but were instructed not to park in public spaces there, she said.
This meant that they had to park on the street, further from the hospital.
“They told us that whatTu sometimes is waiting for a national parking policy. But I don’t know how you have a national policy about it when it’s a local issue,” she said.
“If you’re alone, it’s scary in the dark.”
The employees were stressed after hearing about what happened on Friday night and they were thinking, ‘it could have been me,’ she said.
They were informed that the hospital had been working on a permanent correction for months, Fissenden said.
Health NZ central group operations director Fiona McCarthy said she recognized the team’s concerns and was committed to improving security.
“The team is urgently working on increasing permanent parking options for employees working in afternoon and evening shifts.”
Employees had a variety of options, including paid parking, street parking and dedicated to parking spaces, said McCarthy.
Historically, all employees could park on the spot, but demand surpassed availability so that the hospital could not continue to issue parking licenses to all, she said.
Meanwhile, after Friday’s attack, the hospital opened access to the team’s parking lot to those who work on afternoon and evening shifts and increased security on the hospital land.
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