Medical exams backed up even though posts filled
Despite being nearly fully staffed following an exodus of medical examiners from Calgary, a local MLA fears the revolving door will continue until the province invests more into the agency.
On Tuesday, two new forensic pathologists began work at the Calgary office, which between December of last year and March watched four of its five examiners resign. Another was brought into the fold early last month, while the final replacement is slated to complete the team later in July.
In a statement, Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kathleen Ganley said the province added two new medical examiners last year (bringing the full complement to 10, split between offices in Calgary and Edmonton) to deal with the heavy workload, and noted with the Calgary office nearly back to full staff, they’ll be able to turn their full attention to the task of completing death reviews.
“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner carries out critical work to ensure that families have answers about their loved ones. On average, the OCME investigates 20,000 deaths each year,” she said.
“That’s why in Budget 2017, we announced funding for two new medical examiner positions and a researcher to help support this important work.”
But even with the replacement medical examiners in place, Calgary-Mountain View MLA David Swann said the office is still woefully ill-equipped given the spike in autopsies added to their plates in the midst of Alberta’s deadly opioid crisis.
“There’s no substitute for forensic pathologists who are well qualified and willing to put in the time to get it right,” said Swann, who’s also a physician. “You have to pay them well to keep them and their work environment has to be favourable. If these things are not put in place, we’re going to continue to see a revolving door.”
Alberta’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has had a difficult history of turnover and upheaval over the past several years.
In 2011, all three medical examiners working in the Calgary office resigned, two blaming their departures on heavy workloads A third, Dr. Michael Belenky, choose to depart in the midst of an inquiry into potential mistakes he made in eight autopsies.
Over the same period, the agency has also seen three multimilliondollar lawsuits filed by and against former forensic pathologists, including
Alberta’s former chief medical examiner Anny Sauvageau, embroiled in an ongoing $7.5-million wrongful dismissal action against her former employer. Another former Calgary pathologist, Evan Matshes, is suing the province and Sauvageau for $30 million, claiming a conspiracy to ruin his career.
The province seemed poised to quell the turmoil in the department in December 2016, with the appointment of Chief Medical Examiner Elizabeth Brooks-Lim, followed shortly thereafter by the appointment of two new forensic pathologist positions.
Swann said even with the appointments, his office has heard from Albertans who have had to wait months for death investigations due to the growing backlog of cases, boosted by nearly 1,500 fentanyl-related deaths in the province between 2014 and March this year.
In one case that came to his attention, the veteran Liberal MLA said one woman had to wait 11 months to receive a report on the death of her daughter in a case that was initially deemed an overdose.
The toxicology report she received, Swann said, indicated no drugs in her system.
“The reports are simply piling up ... and I do not expect the delays in reports and toxicology testing to improve very quickly,” Swann said.
“The impression I have is of an office under duress and we need to have a serious conversation about more dollars and a review of management.”
The ongoing issues in the department have also created difficulties for police homicide investigations and internal “deadly-force encounters,” according to Calgary’s police union.