A 33-year-old Kitchener man has been charged with attempted murder following an incident at Grand River Hospital’s Freeport site.
Nurses working the night shift in the hospital’s mental health unit found the man, a patient in the unit, assaulting an adult female patient.
The nurses were able to restrain the man until police arrived. There was no weapon involved in the attack.
"The nurses working in the mental health unit became aware of an attack, interceded into that attack and prevented the attack from continuing," said police spokesperson Olaf Heinzel.
The suspect was remanded into custody at a Kitchener hospital. An audio remand hearing will take place Friday. Police say they'll work with the Crown attorney to determine if the case should be moved from criminal courts to mental health courts.
Hospital officials say they will review their security procedures after this incident, as they do after any serious incident.
"We're working very closely with the police service," said hospital spokesperson Mark Karjuloto.
"We have very active security at both of our sites who are interested in the patients' well-being and the families' well-being."
Police say the victim received injuries to her neck, but is expected to make a full recovery.
No information about a motive was released.
