Port Hardy, B.C., doctor temporarily suspended from working in emergency room

A family doctor who has been outspoken against Island Health has had his emergency room privileges temporarily suspended, after the health authority says it received complaints about the quality of his care. 

Dr. Alex Nataros began practising in the north Vancouver Island community of Port Hardy in 2022 after moving from the Comox Valley. He joined the rotation of family doctors who take shifts at the community's beleaguered emergency room. 

But Island Health's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ben Williams said in a statement Thursday that complaints made by a patient on Jan. 30, and by other health-care workers on Jan. 31, have led to "a serious concern for patient safety," which needs to be investigated. 

He did not give details about the nature of the complaints.

Meetings were held between Nataros and Island Health leaders following the complaints. 

On Feb. 2, Nataros, who has been speaking out publicly since December about health care staffing shortages on the North Island, called for Williams to resign. He accused the chief medical officer of workplace harassment, and said Williams was not providing leadership. 

Williams said he had already decided at that point to suspend Nataros's emergency room privileges, though Nataros had not yet been informed. 

Speaking to CBC News following his suspension, Nataros said he believes the complaint was coerced by an Island Health employee, from a patient, "to serve their purpose in sullying my good name."

He acknowledged that mistakes are sometimes made, but said: "I am clear and confident in the quality of the care I am delivering."

Rare to publicize staffing matters

Island Health doesn't normally share details about personnel matters, but a statement from Dr. Williams said it was doing so because Nataros's claims of workplace harassment were "categorically untrue." 

"I have a responsibility to clarify the situation to ensure the public ... have confidence in the services they receive," wrote Dr. Williams. 

He wrote that he had other physicians look at the medical record following the complaint against Dr. Nataros, and that he became more concerned about safety after hearing from them. 

An investigation is now underway. 

Emergency room staffing shortages  

In the meantime, Nataros can't work in either of the emergency rooms where he said he'd been scheduled: Port Hardy, and Lady Minto on Salt Spring Island. 

He says that left his colleagues scrambling to fill gaps. 

A spokesperson for Island Health told CBC that it has filled all shifts until the end of February, and that it will bring in locum coverage if necessary. 

The province had already closed the Port Hardy emergency room overnight for the foreseeable future, due to staffing shortages. Patients must go to the hospital in Port McNeill instead — about a 30 to 45 minute drive.