Italian army will guard a hospital after attacks on medical workers
Italy’s army is set to begin guarding medical staff in Calabria starting Monday
ROME (AP) — Italy's army will guard medical staff at a hospital in the southern Calabria region starting Monday, after a string of violent attacks on doctors and nurses by enraged patients and relatives across Italy, local media reported.
Prefect Paolo Giovanni Grieco approved a plan to reinforce the surveillance services already operated by soldiers on sensitive targets in the Calabrian town of Vibo Valentia, including the hospital, the reports said.
Recent attacks on health care workers have been particularly frequent in southern Italy, prompting the doctors’ national guild to request that the army be deployed to ensure medical staff safety.
The turning point was an assault at the Policlinico hospital in the southern city of Foggia in early September. A group of about 50 relatives and friends of a 23-year-old woman — who died during emergency surgery — turned their grief and rage into violence, attacking the hospital staff.
