'Simply appalling:' Hospital appeal board slams Interior Health's treatment of Kelowna eye surgeon

In a scathing critique of Interior Health, the BC Hospital Appeal Board has ordered the health authority to pay $20,000 to an eye surgeon saying that its treatment of the doctor was "simply appalling." A June 26 Hospital Appeal Board decision said Interior Health's senior medical leadership has "completely failed" in its obligation to reintroduce Dr. Malvinder Hoonjan back into Kelowna General Hospital since it was ordered to do so in December 2022. While the $20,000 award for costs is an achievement for Dr. Hoonjan, the figure represents less than half what he had to spend on lawyers even after the Appeal Board had ordered Interior Health to give him his job back. The Appeal Board said it hopes the $20,000 award sends the "appropriate message" to Interior Health that not following one of its orders will not be tolerated. Dr. Hoonjan's issues with the health authority started in 2019 when Interior Health moved retinal surgical services to Kelowna from Kamloops. While the doctor had had hospital privileges in Kamloops since 2010, when the ophthalmologist department was moved to Kelowna he didn't get to keep his job and was denied hospital privileges. In December 2022, the Hospital Appeal Board ordered Interior Health to rehire him giving its reasons in a damning decision highly critical of Interior Health's treatment of the doctor. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/interior-health-lambasted-over-kelowna-doctors-treatment/it97933 While that should have been the end of the situation for the doctor, Interior Health then neglected the Appeal Board's order that it had 60 days to negotiate a reintroduction plan for the doctor. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/interior-health-rebuked-again-for-failing-to-return-eye-surgeon-to-or/it102116 It's unclear why Interior Health didn't follow the order, but the Appeal Board says it's "abundantly clear" that it had to accommodate the eye surgeon to develop a workable back-to-work plan. However, this didn't happen. "(Dr. Hoonjan) was left to navigate his reintegration on his own without any support from Interior Health Authority whatsoever," the Board said. READ MORE: UPDATE: BC's 'massive error' part of web of inaction that could have saved boy's life https://infotel.ca/newsitem/bcs-massive-error-part-of-web-of-inaction-that-could-have-saved-boys-life/it105733 The Board goes on to say that this represents an "ongoing failure" of Interior Health slamming the health authority saying it had failed "at almost every turn." While the Board ordered Interior Health to work with the eye surgeon, instead an unnamed doctor referred to as the Division Head only made a plan contingent on the doctor signing a formal document. "This is entirely inappropriate and is a collateral attack on the jurisdiction of the Hospital Appeal Board," the decision read. "Every single item that the Division Head proposed could have been offered to the (doctor) without a signed plan which is what should have been done." The decision said the Division Head then threatened Dr. Hoonjan that they would file a complaint with the regulator if he didn't sign the form. In the decision, the Division Head said it wasn't supposed to be taken as a threat. However, the Appeal Board questions how else the doctor was supposed to interpret it. "You cannot use the pressure of a regulatory complaint to gain an advantage in another circumstance," the decision read. READ MORE: Kamloops woman helping homeless people sees impact of extreme heat https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kamloops-woman-helping-homeless-people-sees-impact-of-extreme-heat/it105680 When the doctor was finally given operating room dates, they were then cancelled. The decision laid out the behaviour of Interior Health towards the eye surgeon pointing the blame in multiple situations at the Health Authority and saying it fell "markedly below the standard to be expected." While the Appeal Board didn't need to award costs, it said the $20,000 was justified in the circumstances. The Board also reminds Interior Health's senior medical leadership that it has to follow orders from the Appeal Board. "This did not occur in the circumstances," the Board said. To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer mailto:bbulmer@infonews.ca  or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .