A man has been arrested and charged after Winnipeg police say he assaulted and threatened three health-care workers at a city hospital.

The 59-year-old was being treated between April 30 and May 1 at Grace Hospital  in the St. James-Assiniboia area and was behaving in what police describe as an “aggressive manner.” They said he was also making sexually inappropriate comments to surrounding staff. As a result, he was placed in restraints by hospital security.

During his treatment, police say, the man sexually assaulted two workers, ripping one woman’s garment as he tried to bite her, and verbally threatened a third worker.

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Police were contacted by the hospital, with officers taking the man into custody at about 2 a.m. on Friday.

He now faces two counts of sexual assault, an assault charge, and a charge for uttering threats to kill or cause harm.

He was released on an undertaking.

Following the incident, the Manitoba Nurses Union said in a statement a provincially-mandated task force is needed to establish and enforce step-by-step procedures for addressing violence in health care.

“When one patient is allowed to threaten and intimidate unchecked, the impact spreads,” said union president Darlene Jackson in a statement. “It poisons the work environment, compromises safety, and puts every nurse, every staff member, and every patient at risk.”

Jackson went on to say the task force is needed “immediately” and should report directly to the government, but added the employer of health-care workers needs to be held accountable as well.

“Right now, the system is failing not just patients but the people who it employs,” she said.

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