Chatham doctor appeals hospital suspension over COVID-19 vaccine policy

A Chatham doctor has appealed a hospital suspension over a COVID-19 vaccine policy.

Dr. Ian DePass, a surgical assistant, hasn’t worked since Nov. 2021 because he couldn’t comply with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) vaccination policy.

According to a news release, DePass had his hospital privileges revoked by the CKHA after he failed to obtain a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and the hospital rejected his request for an exemption.

DePass’ reasons for the exemption request were not included in a news release, written by The Democracy Fund (TDF) Tuesday.

DePass has retained TDF lawyer Lisa Bildy to appeal the suspension of privileges.

Last June Bildy won “a small but critical motion” allowing her to call current evidence about COVID-19 vaccine efficacy; not just what experts believed in the fall of 2021.

“Thereby widening the scope of the hearing, which the Appeal Board agreed would be a ‘relevant consideration’ in assessing the reasonableness of the CKHA Policy, which remains in effect at the hospital,” the TDF news release reads.

A hearing before Ontario’s Health Professions Appeal and Review Board (HPARB) will begin Wednesday in Toronto and will require six days, according to the TDF.

“As a surgical assistant, DePass cannot earn a living from medicine unless he has hospital privileges,” the news release reads. “A father of seven, with two young children at home, he has worked in construction since his suspension from the hospital.”

Officials with CKHA told CTV News late Tuesday they are unable to comment on the manner.

A request for an interview from Bildy was not returned.

Previous disciplinary action:

This is not the first time DePass has faced discipline within his field.

According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), DePass was first licenced as a general surgeon in 1997.

However he was demoted to a ‘surgical assistant’ in 2008 after the CPSO Discipline Committee found him guilty of professional misconduct and incompetence for how he cared for three patients.

After that, DePass could only be in an operating room if another surgeon was present and a notice was posted outside the room so all professionals were aware of his restrictions.

In 2012, the CPSO Discipline Committee updated their orders against DePass, after he admitted to professional misconduct against a total of five patients.

Among their findings, the Discipline Committee ruled DePass didn’t include all pertinent details in records, failed to consult with other surgeons on complicated cases and he didn’t use the correct terminology in two breast cancer cases.