Working as a Security Guard in Alberta at a Healthcare Facility
May 1, 2025 Alberta Security Hub Staff
Working as a security professional in a healthcare setting can be a rewarding and fundamentally important career path. Working in a hospital gives you the opportunity to make a positive impact on the sense of safety and overall satisfaction in these environments for members of the public, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
To succeed, you will need to bring valuable Skills such as communication and de-escalation to the forefront. Rather than taking the backseat, you will be out and about patrolling and dealing with patients in crisis (e.g. Code White), security threats, and other situations that come up such as disputes or medical emergencies. As a guard, you will more often than not be first on the scene, tasked with mediating the situation the best you can. Having a broad range of relevant skills will ensure you are prepared to take on a variety of daily tasks such as access control, and monitoring the site by foot and through CCTV systems. Aside from skills, a diploma, especially one related to security and law enforcement, is preferred by many employers but not required. Last but not least, you will need a security guard license, which you can get in Alberta by completing a ministry accredited course, such as Our ABST course.
Another benefit of working as a guard in a healthcare environment is that it can lead you up the career ladder to more senior and administrative positions within the security force, or potentially get your foot in the door to Policing. During your time patroling at a clinic or hospital, you will likely come across other security and law enforcement professionals. This can help you get a sense of the other roles that are available and what they entail. Dealing with a wide range of individuals in a healthcare facility will make you a well qualified candidate for future endeavours you may pursue.
While the position may be demanding at times, it does tend to pay well when compared to other guard positions elsewhere. The higher pay and rewarding aspects of your work carried out each day interacting with the public can make work in a healthcare setting as a security professional appealing.
This video highlights what security professionals can expect when working in a healthcare environment:
