Northern Health’s VP of medicine resigned after internal probe: official

The vice- president of medicine at the Northern Health Authority resigned at the end of March after an internal investigation resulted in material being turned over to the RCMP.

Northern Health spokesman Steve Raper confirmed that David Butcher resigned his position March 30.

“There was an issue that was raised. We’ve investigated that internally. I can’t provide specifics of the issue,” Raper said. “We provided some information to the RCMP.”

Butcher resigned a short time later, Raper said.

No charges have been laid against Butcher, said Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass, who said he could not comment on whether Butcher was under investigation.

Susan Prins, spokeswoman for the B. C. College of Physicians and Surgeons, said Butcher changed his status with the college this past spring to become “temporarily inactive.”

“Dr. David Butcher is currently temporarily inactive and not practising,” Prins said Wednesday, without providing details or reasons. “It just means that by choice — and it’s not information we would release what that is — he is not currently practising medicine.”

“It could be for any number of reasons: a leave of absence, sabbatical, maternity leave, a health reason, a personal reason,” she said, adding that the college has no record of disciplinary incidents involving Butcher.

Butcher had a base salary of $ 272,487 and total compensation of $ 311,936 for the 2010/ 2011 fiscal year, according to health authority records.

As vice- president of medicine for Northern Health, he was responsible for overseeing medical staff and contracting doctors to deliver medical care across northern B. C. Butcher’s clinical background is in family medicine, according to a profile posted on the website of the Canadian Medical Association.

Butcher is a past president of the Northwest Territories Medical Association and was last year awarded the designation of Canadian Certified Physician Executive by the CMA.