Health Department confirms investigation of medical professional

Nunavut’s Department of Health is investigating a complaint against a licensed medical practitioner in the territory, but is not sharing details about who is under investigation or the nature of the complaint.

“Access to information is restricted to protect confidentiality and the integrity of the process,” said Chelsea Halvorson, a communications consultant for the Department of Health, in an email.

The department issued a public call in December for members to serve on future boards of inquiry under the Medical Professions Act.

A board of inquiry is convened if a Health Department investigation deems a formal inquiry is necessary.

It sought three types of members: a medical practitioner registered in Nunavut, a medical practitioner licensed elsewhere in Canada but not in Nunavut, and a public member who is not a medical professional and does not work for the Department of Health.

Board members haven’t yet been appointed. Once they are, the board will announce the date for its first meeting, said Charmaine Deogracias, the department’s communications manager.

Under Nunavut’s Medical Professions Act, complaints remain “unproven allegations” until they are resolved through an inquiry.

A board of inquiry, Deogracias said, will look at the evidence and decide if there was improper conduct or a failure to meet the standard of care.

The act requires complainants and affected medical practitioners to be notified of all complaints, investigations and board of inquiry hearings.

She said that over the past 10 years, the department has received “fewer than five complaints.”

While a board has discretion to notify the public of hearings, it is not required to do so and there is no online registry of complaints or hearing schedules in Nunavut, Deogracias said.

“The privacy of complainants, particularly in a small population, could be easily compromised if [inquiry] proceedings were fully open to the public,” she said.

“In a small jurisdiction like Nunavut, this approach helps protect fairness for both patients and practitioners.”

This differs from the College and Association of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut’s professional conduct committee, whose decisions are posted on its website including the health professional’s name.

Ontario uses the Health Professions Discipline Tribunal, an administrative body that conducts disciplinary hearings for multiple health colleges including the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

In Ontario, hearings are often livestreamed, decisions and summaries are publicly posted online, and documents such as notices of hearing, statements of fact, orders, and reasons are accessible to the public, though sensitive personal health information is redacted.

“Each medical regulator in Canada operates within its own legislative framework and bylaws, which can result in different approaches across jurisdictions,” said Mickey Cirak, spokesperson with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, in an email.

Nunavut’s board of inquiry operates independently from the Department of Health and has the powers of a public inquiry — including allowing public attendance, except where privacy protections are required.