Surgeon handed 4-month suspension for noose incident at Alberta hospital

A white, South African-born surgeon who tied and taped a noose to an operating room door in 2016 to allegedly target a Black, Nigerian-born surgical assistant has been suspended from practising for four months.

An all-white disciplinary tribunal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) issued the four month-suspension to Dr. Wynand Wessels on Monday, ordering him to pay 75 per cent of the costs of the investigation and two hearings.

The college had asked for a one-year suspension. A lawyer for the college's complaints director had called the noose a "deadly threat" and an attempt to intimidate.

"CPSA had asked for a longer suspension, but we must respect the independence of the hearing tribunal," said Dr. Scott McLeod, the college's registrar.

"It is important not to lose sight of the fact that Dr. Wessels has been found guilty of unprofessional conduct, and a suspension demonstrates this behaviour is not appropriate or acceptable."

In July 2020, CBC News first revealed Wessels tied a noose and then taped it to the door of an operating room at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie, Alta, a city 450 kilometres north of Edmonton.

A colleague, surgeon Dr. Scott Wiens, said Wessels told him the noose was for a Black, Nigerian-born surgical assistant, Dr. Oduche Onwuanyi.

The incident was reported to hospital administration minutes after it happened. Over the next four years, at least three doctors reported it to the hospital's administration, Alberta Health Services, the college and then-health minister Tyler Shandro.

Wessels was never suspended and faced no discipline. The college subsequently admitted it had failed to investigate the incident in a timely manner.

Alberta Health Services (AHS), which manages the province's health-care system, said it believed the matter had been dealt with.

The college announced a hearing for Wessels shortly after CBC News revealed the noose incident.

In January 2021, a CPSA hearing panel found Wessels guilty of misconduct. The panel called no witnesses, including Onwuanyi.

But the panel ruled there was insufficient evidence to conclude Wessels was motivated by racism or intended to create a racist symbol. An independent consultant, hired by Alberta Health, echoed that finding. On Monday, McLeod said "whether Dr. Wessels's intent was racist or not, CPSA believes the evidence presented demonstrated his actions were perceived by colleagues as racially motivated and left a negative impact on many Albertans and the profession."

McLeod said the college wants Albertans and physicians to know that it takes allegations of racism seriously and he promised it would improve how it handles such cases in the future. Wessels had claimed the noose was actually a lasso that was part of an inside joke with a nurse, and said that he did not know the violent and racist meaning behind a noose. But in its ruling, the tribunal said the noose was meant as a warning to others. "[Wessels] also could not have been unaware that a noose is symbolic of violence and would be perceived as a threat by anyone seeing it," it wrote.