A Boston Medical Center officer was stabbed outside the hospital early Wednesday morning, according to police who said he was in critical condition.

Roxbury man Branden Bannister, 37, has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident that happened at around 2 a.m. outside BMC.

Bannister was also charged with cocaine trafficking when police allegedly found drugs after the stabbing.

Boston police officers responded to the hospital at 2 a.m. for a fight. Upon arrival, cops spotted a man standing, handcuffed, and “bleeding profusely from the face,” the police report states.

Both blood and numerous items were spread out on the ground, including a knife. Police were told that Bannister allegedly stabbed a public safety officer in the upper right thigh.

Before the incident, Bannister had been visiting a patient. Then he left the hospital with items allegedly belonging to the patient.

Public safety officers as a result stopped Bannister to retrieve the patient’s belongings. That’s when the altercation started — with Bannister allegedly getting into an officer’s face.

The officer pushed Bannister to create some space, and Bannister responded by allegedly clutching his right hoodie pocket, as if to grip and conceal a weapon. The officer then deployed pepper spray.

Another officer — the one who ended up getting stabbed — arrived at the scene.

“While Public Safety Officers are gathering the belongings, Victim #1 (officer) and Bannister exchange words before Bannister removes an unknown item from his right pocket and, with his right hand, throws a closed fist punch at Victim #1,” the police report reads.

“Public Safety Officers immediately attempt to restrain an actively combative Bannister, using closed fist punches,” police added. “While Public Safety Officers were attempting to gain control of Bannister, Victim #1 realizes he was stabbed to his right leg and begins hopping on one leg towards the entrance and proceeded to escort himself to trauma 3.”

The BMC Trauma Division told police that the officer was in critical condition due to the laceration.

Bannister was arrested and charged with: assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, serious bodily injury; assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; and cocaine trafficking in 18 grams or more.

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“The nearly 5,000 healthcare workers at Boston Medical Center are alarmed by this violent incident, and hoping for the safe recovery of the public safety officer who was stabbed today,” Cari Medina, executive VP of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, said in a statement.

“Our members who sit on Boston Medical Center’s labor-management safety committee will be meeting to discuss additional steps that Boston Medical Center can take to keep employees and patients safe,” Medina added.

“This incident represents an unfortunate and unnecessary reality for healthcare workers in hospitals and healthcare facilities all across Massachusetts,” the union official said. “Far too often, healthcare workers are the victims of violent attacks in the workplace, and we need our healthcare institutions and our state leaders alike to do more to protect the frontline workers who keep our healthcare system running.”

The union represents more than 85,000 healthcare workers throughout Massachusetts. The victim in this incident was not a member of 1199SEIU.