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.
鈥淲e 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,鈥� said Greg Hoffort, executive director of St. Joseph鈥檚 Hospital.
鈥淲e鈥檝e talked to other physicians and they鈥檙e picking up the slack that鈥檒l be created by this, that was our reaction and that鈥檚 what we did immediately upon learning and credit goes to the medical staff for stepping forward in this regard.鈥�
Hoffort added that Horri鈥檚 revocation of privileges was 100 per cent up to the college with St. Joseph鈥檚 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鈥檚 council determined what it thought was the appropriate penalty based on the facts as it has them, which happened June 16.
鈥淩evocation means he doesn鈥檛 have a licence. He鈥檚 not eligible to reapply for nine months, and that doesn鈥檛 mean he鈥檒l get his licence back after nine months. His licence is revoked, which means he doesn鈥檛 have a license and won't have a licence unless the council concludes that it鈥檚 appropriate to give him a licence back,鈥� Salte said.
鈥淚n order to that he鈥檇 have to (provide) evidence that he鈥檚 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鈥檚 appropriate to return a licence to him.鈥�
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, 鈥淒r. 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.鈥�
Whether or not the petition will help get Horri鈥檚 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.
