Army to guard medical staff in Calabria hospital

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 14 - The Italian army is to guard medical staff in a Calabria hospital after a string of attacks on doctors and nurses across southern Italy.
    In order to combat and prevent the phenomenon of assaults on health personnel, the army will keep watch over the hospital in Vibo Valentia, the Gazzetta del Sud reported, saying the decision was taken by Prefect Paolo Giovanni Grieco and is part of a plan to reshape the surveillance services already operated by the Army on sensitive targets in the Vibo Valentia area as part of the 'Strade sicure' (Safe Streets) operation.
    The director of Foggia's Policlinico Riuniti hospital has threatened to close its emergency room after a spate of attacks on health personnel continued with three assaults in less than a week.
    The attacks include a near riot when health personnel were punched and injured by a mob led by relatives of a 23-year-old woman from the nearby town of Cerignola who died during surgery after being involved in a car accident some weeks before.
    The events in Foggia are part of a series of acts of violence on health professionals in Italy, which has led to the national guild of doctors to call for the army to be drafted in to ensure the safety of hospital staff. (ANSA).