Island Health will hold an emergency meeting in response to a needle problem in downtown Victoria that has seen three people pricked by syringes in one week.
On Monday, a woman discovered a needle sticking straight up out of a planter in the 700-block of Johnson Street.
She told officers she had been pricked by a needle similarly hidden in another planter in the area a week ago, and police say it appears to have been deliberately placed.
Last week, a three-year-old boy was pricked by a needle in a McDonald's restaurant on Pandora Avenue.
One day later, a woman was pricked by a needle hidden in a paper bag in the 700-block of Pembroke Street.
The health authority says it will meet with service providers Wednesday, including those who handle clean needle exchanges, as it looks for answers.
"We're going to be looking at greater surveillance of where the needles are occurring," said Dr. Richard Stanwick, Chief Medical Officer for Island Health.
Outreach workers have stepped up sweeps for needles in the downtown core in response, but Island Health says it wants to know if more needs to be done like installing additional disposal bins.
Anyone with information is asked to call 250-995-7654 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
