Local anaesthesiologist Dr. Mehdi Horri recently had his certificate of registration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan revoked, following an act of misconduct that happened when he was practising in Ontario.
In the meantime Estevan will be limited to one anaesthesiologist, Dr. Anthony Davies, but a replacement for Horri is already being sought for recruitment.
“We immediately started to put the pieces together to make sure we could provide coverage for anaesthesiology; we talked immediately with Dr. Davies and the recruiting process, that was started immediately,” said Greg Hoffort, executive director of St. Joseph’s Hospital.
“We’ve talked to other physicians and they’re picking up the slack that’ll be created by this, that was our reaction and that’s what we did immediately upon learning and credit goes to the medical staff for stepping forward in this regard.”
Hoffort added that Horri’s revocation of privileges was 100 per cent up to the college with St. Joseph’s Hospital having no part in the decision.
According to documents from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Horri was found to have committed an act of professional misconduct relevant to the practice of medicine by having engaged in a sexual relationship with a patient too soon after the termination of the doctor-patient relationship.
Bryan Salte, legal counsel for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, said legislation allows them to take disciplinary action if a physician has been disciplined in another province.
There was a hearing and the college’s council determined what it thought was the appropriate penalty based on the facts as it has them, which happened June 16.
“Revocation means he doesn’t have a licence. He’s not eligible to reapply for nine months, and that doesn’t mean he’ll get his licence back after nine months. His licence is revoked, which means he doesn’t have a license and won't have a licence unless the council concludes that it’s appropriate to give him a licence back,” Salte said.
“In order to that he’d have to (provide) evidence that he’s been assessed . . . and had met other conditions that would be appropriate to say that, although his licence was taken away based upon the conduct that occurred in Ontario, at that future time that it’s appropriate to return a licence to him.”
A change.org petition to get Horri reinstated was started by Lori Dumontel last week and as of press time had already garnered roughly 250 signatures.
The description on the petition says, “Dr. Horri is a valuable asset to the Estevan community. His skills are crucial to our hospital. His role as a anaesthesiologist in our hospital's surgery department has alleviated many patients needing to seek surgeries in Regina, SK.”
Whether or not the petition will help get Horri’s privileges is up to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, Hoffort said.
Horri is also on the website ratemds.com where patients can go to assess medical professionals and all the reviews for the Estevan anaesthesiologist are remarkably positive, often giving him five out of five stars.
