A psychiatrist who was stripped of his medical licences in both New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador in 2007 after he admitted to having sex with a patient is now practising in Alberta, CBC News has learned.

Dr. James Bernard Hanley, 72, who used to work with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in Oromocoto, N.B., is working at 4 Wing CFB Cold Lake, confirmed Lt. Mathew Strong.

He declined to discuss the nature of Hanley's work and national military officials could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, the provincial medical regulatory body, granted Hanley a licence earlier this year with some conditions attached, said registrar Dr. Trevor Theman.

Hanley must only see patients when another regulated health professional is present in the clinic or hospital setting, and must work only in a multi-physician or multi-disciplinary work setting, he said.

Those conditions are listed on the college's website and Hanley would be required to provide that information to a patient, if requested, said Theman.

He declined to discuss why the college attached conditions to Hanley's permit to practise. "I can't tell you anything about that," he said, citing privacy reasons under the Health Professions Act of Alberta.

Hanley could not be reached on Tuesday for comment.

​Theman did say there is normally "extensive information sharing" between jurisdictions.

A doctor having his or her licence revoked in one province, however, does not preclude the individual being granted a licence in another province, he said.

"It would not be common, for sure," said Theman. "So the question would be, 'What was the situation that led to the individual having his or her licence revoked?' And depending on what that was all about, what has happened in that physician’s life, or career, or education, or health that would now make it reasonable to consider licensing that individual?

"And if that was a reasonable consideration, what sort of conditions or restrictions would make it safe for the public for that individual to practise in our jurisdiction?"

Protection of the public is the college's "first consideration," said Theman.

"We would not let somebody practise unless we thought it was safe to do so, and we would need compelling evidence with respect to somebody who had lost his or her licence that something had changed to make us believe that now, whatever the conditions were that led to loss of licensure, had been addressed and that we could put conditions or restrictions in place to ensure safe practice," he said.

New Brunswick college never contacted

But Dr. Ed Schollenberg, the registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, says he was never contacted by his Alberta counterparts for information about Hanley.

"It's not the way things are supposed to work," said Schollenberg. "Standard procedure would be always to get information from any place a physician was previously licensed and if there was any negative information, [there] would almost always be request for clarification, further information," he said.

If he had been contacted by Alberta officials, Schollenberg says he would have told them that Hanley's New Brunswick licence remains revoked and that "we had every reason to believe that it was not an isolated matter that had gotten him in trouble in the first place."

Schollenberg says he heard from a second woman in 2007, who had made an allegation against Hanley in Newfoundland and Labrador, but who subsequently decided not to pursue a formal complaint.

"In both cases the story was similar in the sense that it was not some accidental lapse of judgment but in fact a very contrived situation where he took advantage of his patients," he said.

"That’s as low as it goes for physicians, it’s as low as it goes for psychiatrists and in many circumstances, when a psychiatrist crosses that line, people don’t think they should be entitled to practise medicine."

Background provides context

Doctors who run into difficulties in one province sometimes move to another province to try to avoid them, said Schollenberg.

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