Hospital says it will monitor censured doctor

Reprimanded Leamington physician must work under clinical supervisor

Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington said Tuesday it will make sure its former chief of staff lives up to the disciplinary measures imposed on him following a botched surgery.

Dr. Ejaz Ahmed Ghumman recently resigned as chief of staff but is still a surgeon at the former Leamington District Memorial Hospital.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario reprimanded Ghumman after he left surgical equipment inside a patient during gallbladder surgery. The mistake made the woman sick, ultimately requiring her to be sent to London for emergency surgery.

In a brief written statement, the hospital said it “will ensure that the issues raised are addressed and that the practice requirements for Dr. Ghumman established by the College of Physicians and Surgeons decision are implemented and complied with.”

Ghumman resigned as chief of staff in April after the issue went before the college’s discipline committee.

A woman who answered the phone in Ghumman’s office Tuesday said the doctor had no comment.

The college ordered that Ghumman must work under a clinical supervisor for the next 12 months.

He can’t reapply for a chief of staff position at any hospital until he completes a reassessment, which will take place six months after the supervision period.

He must pay for that reassessment. Ghumman must also pay for any costs associated with enforcing the college’s order and the $5,500 cost of his disciplinary hearing.

He must inform the college of every location where he practices within 15 days. He is also subject to unannounced inspections of his practice and patient charts, as well as other demands the college makes to monitor him.

The surgery occurred in 2015. Despite having complications starting with a clip applier that got jammed on the woman’s cystic artery, Ghumman told her it went well. While trying to get that clip applier off, the doctor applied more clips.

At one point, the college said, Ghumman became concerned that he might have mistakenly put a clip on a bile duct or artery and didn’t know how to get it off.

The college said Ghumman later reported he applied the clip “a little bit blind.”

A couple days after the surgery, the patient complained of “feeling itchy.”

She also couldn’t eat and looked jaundiced. After that continued for days, Ghumman booked an ultrasound which found the common bile duct was obstructed.

He immediately sent the woman to London, where the surgeon learned there was a clip across the patient’s entire bile duct.