CALGARY—Alberta has committed to examine how it could make more information about doctors’ disciplinary histories public after a Star investigation found physicians who misbehave can start over here with a clean record.

The province will now look at how it could post doctors’ records from outside the province and criminal convictions on their public licences, both steps that other jurisdictions have taken, Health Minister Sarah Hoffman said Wednesday. It will also delve into the possibility of posting physicians’ disciplinary histories within Alberta for either 10 years or indefinitely, rather than the current five years — something the province’s medical regulator has proposed since 2015.

“Knowing that this was suggested by the college years ago troubles me,” said Hoffman, who said she hadn’t heard of the issue until a week ago.

Read more on the Star’s Medical Disorder investigation

“Everyone puts their trust in physicians and I think it’s only fair for us to know if that physician has a prior history of any wrongdoing.”

The 18-month investigation found 159 disciplined doctors who have held licences on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, and highlighted the gaps in a broken system that keeps their disciplinary histories secret from patients.

Investigative reporters Diana Zlomislic and Rachel Mendleson discuss the doctors discipline investigation which took 18 months to complete.

The Star found that 90 per cent of these physicians’ Canadian medical college profiles were missing discipline details that had been publicly disclosed in another province or state, while 69 per cent of their U.S. medical board profiles were missing this information. In Canada, 73 per cent of the profiles had no disciplinary history whatsoever, compared to 40 per cent in the U.S. — even though records exist in every case.

The investigation highlighted the case of Dr. Richard Cunningham, a family physician in Fort Macleod, Alta., whose history of convictions for threats of violence and alcohol offences doesn’t appear on his public profile in the province. It also examined the history of Dr. Derek Heldzinger, a doctor with a clear Alberta licence despite the fact that he’s faced sanctions in five U.S. states.

Read more:

Bad doctors who cross the border can hide their dirty secrets. We dug them up

Canada's medical watchdogs know more about bad doctors than they are telling you

Regulators expect doctors to tell the truth about their past. Here's what happens when they don't

In Alberta, physicians’ records within the province are scrubbed after five years, and misconduct from other jurisdictions aren’t posted at all. Criminal convictions also aren’t posted on doctors’ public profiles, where patients go for information about the people in charge of their care.

Hoffman wouldn’t commit to a timeline for making changes, but said the province would want to play a part in establishing a national database of physician disciplinary records.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“Stories like this highlight that there are some bad apples out there,” she said. “We’re going to take a little bit of time to make this right, but we want to move quickly.”

Calgary-area Liberal MLA David Swann, who is also a medical doctor, said the current rules around doctors’ disciplinary records predate the current government, and are an example of the backlog of issues facing the province’s health-care system.

“Nobody’s noticed. Nobody’s pressed on it,” Swann said. “They’re just too busy.”

With files from Rachel Mendleson and Diana Zlomislic

Read more about: