The Robert Campbell Bridge was briefly closed Tuesday night, as police worked to convince a suicidal Whitehorse General Hospital patient not to jump.

The man was a patient in either the secure ward or the assessment ward, said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Don Rogers.

At 6:25 Tuesday evening, hospital staff called police for the second time that day to report a patient who was threatening to kill himself by jumping off the bridge connecting downtown and Riverdale.

Three members responded and closed off the bridge to traffic as they coaxed the man down.

The bridge was closed for approximately 20 minutes while the officers talked to the troubled patient.

Police were preparing to put a boat in the water in case the man did jump, Rogers said, "but he was talked off the bridge before we had a chance to launch a boat.”

The man was returned to the hospital and is in stable condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.