A doctor in B.C. has lost an appeal that would have allowed her to keep her hospital privileges despite not taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
The health orders said that “staff members were not permitted to work in a care location, which included hospitals, after Oct. 25, 2021, unless they had received a COVID-19 vaccine or had been granted an exemption from the PHO,” the appeal said. The orders did not have an expiration date.
“Hospital privileges” is a term used in health care that refers to the permission given to doctors to treat patients in a specific hospital.
Dr. Szezepaniak’s suspension was “to be in effect until such time as the Appellant is eligible to fulfill her service obligations.”
The decision also said that if Dr. Szezepaniak was not eligible to work when it came time for her annual review, the privileges were to be canceled.
“This Panel acknowledges that the Appellant has the right to make decisions impacting her bodily integrity and accepts that she strongly and sincerely believes in her views,” the decision said. “That does not mean, however, that she is immune from the consequences of her decision.”
In short, the appeal decision acknowledged Dr. Szezepaniak’s right to not be vaccinated; however, they said that the decision made her unemployable according to provincial law.
She has worked in B.C. hospitals for over 20 years and had just joined the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) in Kelowna in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting.
However, due to the province’s PHO, Dr. Szezepaniak was not able to work at RIH after Oct. 26, 2021, because she was not vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the appeals decision.
On Oct. 25, 2021, Dr. Szezepaniak sent a letter to Public Health Officer Bonnie Henry seeking an exemption from the vaccine requirement based on the fact it violated her freedoms and rights.
“The Appellant’s letter to the PHO also included numerous requests for information related to disclosure of scientific evidence regarding the vaccines and how Charter requirements were being met.”
The PHO denied the exemption and did not respond to the questions posed in Dr. Szezepaniak’s letter, the appeal decision said.
On Nov. 16, 2021, Dr. Szezepaniak was notified by the Interior Health Authority that “her inability to work and discharge her obligations as a member of the medical staff was grounds for cancellation of her hospital privileges.”
The health authority board of directors made the decision official on Aug. 23, 2022, when they canceled her “medical staff appointment and hospital privileges, effective Aug. 19.”
On Nov. 12, she sent a letter to the Interior Health Authority’s Manager Medical Administration that included a letter addressed to the Health Authority Medical Advisory Committee. In the 18-page letter, Dr. Szezepaniak said the government’s mandatory vaccination policy and health orders were illegal, and she indicated concerns she had about the vaccine, the appeal decision says.
She also “testified on cross-examination that she felt that it was her civic and moral duty to inform HAMAC that, by being party to enforcing the vaccination mandate, they were coercing her and could be personally liable.”
‘Chronically Understaffed’
In the court decision, both sides agreed that the hospital was “chronically understaffed” before the COVID-19 pandemic.The situation grew worse as wildfires and floods caused patient relocation to the health region, the decision notes.
“The Order, and the consequent inability of unvaccinated hospital staff to work, caused further staffing challenges.”
