The provincial government is setting up a task force to check violence and the use of illicit drugs in hospitals.
The B-C Nurses Union has raised concerns about the presence of weapons and illegal drugs in medical facilities.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says the task force will make it very clear to hospital administrators that weapons are banned.
It will also ensure that hospitals are following standardized procedures and rules for the use of drugs.
Dix says there are hundreds of people in our hospitals each day who are addicted and they must be protected.
– with files from Vista Radio newswire