Surgeon accused of sexual harassment banned from working at Grace Hospital

WARNING: This story contains discussion of sexual harassment.

An orthopedic surgeon who has been disciplined in recent years over inappropriate behaviour with a patient has now been banned from practising at a Winnipeg hospital, after an arbitrator ruled he sexually harassed a co-worker, a leaked document shows.

Dr. David Ames was accused of sexually harassing a Grace Hospital nurse four times between mid-2023 and early 2024, according to a confidential arbitration decision recently leaked to CBC News.

The nurse filed a complaint with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority last February — less than two years after Ames finished a six-month suspension for professional misconduct involving a patient. 

In one incident, the nurse's complaint says Ames told her something to the effect of, "You have a body most women would die for," said the decision by arbitrator Justice Freda Steel, dated Oct. 15, 2024.

A witness who corroborated that comment led Steel to conclude that Ames made sexual remarks alleged by the nurse, and that they amounted to sexual harassment and a breach of the Winnipeg health authority's policy and procedures, the decision says.

Steel noted the nurse had nothing to gain from filing her complaint against Ames and that she was direct in her testimony.

"The emotional impact this situation has had on her" was "obvious from the way she testified," Steel wrote. "In fact, she testified that she had been having thoughts of self-harm and now looks around in public places to ensure that she does not run into Dr. Ames."

Ames denied making any inappropriate comments to the nurse and said he was shocked to learn of her complaint, because he thought they'd had a "collegial relationship," the decision says.

Ames's lawyers declined to comment, saying respectful workplace complaints are meant to be handled in a confidential and private manner. 

The lawyers said any publication of confidential workplace matters may "very well constitute" a breach of confidentiality and legislation. "There should be no publication or other dissemination by CBC News regarding such matters," the email said. 

In an email from a spokesperson, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority also declined to comment. Any decisions are forwarded to Manitoba's College of Physicians and Surgeons, the spokesperson said.

The college told CBC in an email its own decisions regarding disciplinary action are found on its publicly available website, but any matters related to Grace Hospital would be under the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. 

The nurse's complaint said the first incident took place in July or August 2023, when Ames pulled her aside after a meeting, put his arm around her and complimented her work at the hospital, which made her feel uncomfortable enough to mention it to her supervisor, and to document the incident, as she did with future incidents, according to Steel's decision.

The nurse, who is only identified in the complaint by her initials, says that Ames then made an inappropriate remark to her in late 2023. After she mentioned to her co-workers that she doesn't drink alcohol, Ames replied, "Wow, you are every man's dream," Steel's decision says.

The nurse later testified that remark made her feel objectified, and she once again documented it, according to the decision.

Then, in a December 2023 incident, after seeing the nurse lean over a desk, Ames asked her if she used to be a dancer and told her her husband was "a lucky man," which she interpreted as a sexual reference to her flexibility that left her "feeling disgusted," the decision says.

The last incident — where Ames told the nurse she had a body "most women would die for" — took place in January 2024.

Steel concluded that given the evidence, a credibility assessment of both the nurse and Ames, and the balance of probabilities, "it is more probable than not" that Ames made the comments, her decision says.

"These comments had a sexual undertone to them, by reference to her desirability as a woman (sexual or otherwise)," Steel wrote.

Steel said the incident where Ames put his arm around the nurse, while "not appropriate," did not amount to sexual harassment.

'Unduly harsh' punishment: Ames

In a seven-day hearing held in August and September, Steel heard testimony from Ames, the nurse behind the complaint against him, Dr. Joss Reimer — the health authority's chief medical officer at the time of the complaint's filing — and three nurses who testified they witnessed some of the incidents.

A nurse who saw the last interaction in the complaint said she could not recall the exact words Ames used but remembered that he said something like the nurse had "a smoking hot body, and any man would be lucky to sleep with her," which she found shocking, according to Steel.

Another nurse, who was called to testify by Ames's legal team, said she didn't hear him make any inappropriate remarks in that interaction, but later acknowledged that she wasn't sure when the conversation took place, Steel wrote.

Ames, who had been suspended on an interim basis in February 2024, following the nurse's complaint, argued that taking away his privileges from all Winnipeg Regional Health Authority facilities was "unduly harsh and unwarranted," even if he was proven to have made the alleged comments to the nurse and was in breach of health authority policy, according to Steel's decision.

Steel said while Ames is trained to do advanced surgical procedures that can only be done at the Grace and the Health Sciences Centre, he should only be banned from working at the Grace, because a total ban would "effectively terminate his practice."

"I do not believe that is necessary to bring home to Dr. Ames the severity of his behaviour," Steel wrote.

Concerns over past misconduct

It's not the first time Ames faced penalties for inappropriate behaviour at work.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba suspended Ames from practising as a surgeon for six months in 2022, after a disciplinary panel found him guilty of professional misconduct and of attempting to mislead college investigators.

The panel said Ames complimented his patient on her physical appearance, made comments of a sexual nature during appointments, and sent inappropriate texts and instant messages that included a picture of male genitalia and encouragement for the patient to send him nude photos.

Conditions imposed on Ames after the 2022 suspension included a restriction that limited his practice to the Fort Whyte Orthopedics Clinic — where he'd previously worked — and any Winnipeg Regional Health Authority facility where he performed surgeries. The conditions also required that a female attendant be present whenever he was with female patients.

Those conditions for Ames are still active, and will remain unless they are rescinded by the college, a college spokesperson told CBC News.

The panel also ordered Ames to complete remedial courses, create a personal protection plan, and be assessed by a psychiatrist or psychologist experienced with evaluating professionals who committed misconduct similar to that proven against Ames.

Ames testified during last year's arbitration hearings that he was under "a tremendous amount of scrutiny" when his 2022 suspension concluded, and he nearly lost his house after facing significant financial impacts, Steel's decision says.

"He has lost 50 per cent of his income, but must continue to pay his overhead at the Fort Whyte Clinic and pay the salary of the female attendant," Steel wrote.

Ames also testified that the suspension caused him to avoid interactions with female co-workers.

'Questionable' handling of incident: ethics prof

Ames's ability to work at all WRHA facilities was revoked by Dr. Joss Reimer in June 2024 because of the Grace Hospital nurse's complaint, according to Steel.

Reimer testified to Steel that she felt ordering further suspension, remedial courses or counselling for Ames "would accomplish little" to prevent future misconduct from him, given the extensive penalties following the 2022 suspension, the decision says.

Reimer also had concerns about the health-care team's psychological safety with Ames around, as well as potential impacts on patient safety, Steel wrote.

Steel agreed that Ames cannot return to the Grace because his presence at the hospital would "significantly impair" the working relationship of his unit, her decision says. 

While Steel acknowledged "the termination of his privileges is a severe sanction," she said Ames's past discipline was the most important factor in the decision.

While Steel maintained that suspension is a harsh punishment for Ames, an ethics professor at the University of Manitoba says reducing the ban to just the Grace Hospital seemingly fails to acknowledge the seriousness of Ames's pattern of misconduct.

"The behaviour of which he's been convicted of in 2022, and the behaviour of which he's now been accused — by a colleague rather than a patient — undermines a critically important requirement for medicine to be able to operate effectively on behalf of the patient's health," said  Arthur Schafer.

Schafer says Ames's behaviour is "wildly inappropriate," calling the quiet ban on Ames's hospital privileges, and its subsequent reduction, "questionable."

He says the medical profession has no room for repeated misbehaviour, and he wants to know if the matter is being handled by the College of Physicians and Surgeons.