A well-known Mississauga doctor has lost his medical licence for two months for telling a patient she could “ride” a man like a motorcycle and asking a nurse to sit on his lap so he could “spank” her.

Dr. Wycliffe Baird, 74, must also undergo “medical ethics” training after the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons’ disciplinary committee found he committed professional misconduct and sexually abused a patient with his “reprehensible” conduct.

Baird, who operates out of the High Point Medical Centre on Dixie Rd., north of Bloor St., said he realizes “the gravity” of his comments and expressed remorse in an interview with The Mississauga News.

“I’m really sorry about what has happened. It’s unfortunate and I guess I have to face the music for that,” he said. “I’ve apologized profusely. It’s not something I will ever do again. I didn’t intend to hurt anybody.”

Baird’s suspension runs from Dec. 1 to Jan. 31, but his office will remain open and he will have a “substitute physician” in place for his patients during that time.

The panel said Baird’s behaviour “diminishes” him personally and reflects poorly on the medical profession.

“This kind of language cannot be dismissed as a joke or as merely emergency room banter. It is highly inappropriate and deserving of significant sanction,” the hearing panel stated.

The panel called Baird’s comments to the nurse “particularly disturbing” as they were made in front of nursing staff and patients. “The effect of a failure of a physician to properly and respectfully communicate with staff is detrimental to patient care and can erode confidence in caregivers,” the decision said. “It is Dr. Baird’s responsibility to ensure that his communication with both patients and staff is at all times professional and appropriate.”

The committee ruled that Baird “committed an act of professional misconduct, in that he has engaged in the sexual abuse of a patient and in that he has engaged in a conduct or an act or omission relevant to the practice of medicine that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.”

In May 2011, Baird was treating a patient at the emergency department at Trillium Health Partners' Mississauga Hospital who injured her leg when she fell off her motorcycle.

When she asked when she would be able to ride her motorcycle again, Baird looked at the man who was with her at the hospital and replied, “he looks like a motorcycle, you could ride him,” the disciplinary committee said in its ruling.

The patient “was shocked and offended by this comment, which she perceived as sexual harassment. She promptly complained to the hospital,” the ruling said.

On April 29, 2012, while Baird was the attending emergency room doctor, he made another inappropriate comment, this time to a nurse.

While providing instructions to the nursing staff, one of the nurses jokingly said she didn’t understand the instructions. Baird turned around in his chair to face the nurse, patted his knees and said, “Come and sit on my lap so that I can spank you.”

This comment was made in front of the nursing staff and two patients, the disciplinary panel heard.

“(The nurse) was upset and offended as a result of Dr. Baird’s comments. At the end of the shift, (she) informed Dr. Baird that she felt uncomfortable, embarrassed and insulted by his comments,” the ruling said. “Dr. Baird apologized and stated that it should be taken as a joke. (The nurse) filed a formal complaint against Dr. Baird.”

As a result of the complaint, Baird agreed to provide a formal letter of apology and later completed “professional coaching” with respect to “eliminating inappropriate comments in the workplace, demonstrating professional conduct and developing a sense of empathy in order to understand how his comments can impact others.”

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Baird has been a doctor in Ontario for 45 years.

He also runs a special mission called Global Wellness Impact, which seeks to create and facilitate three community clinics in Ghana, West Africa and train local staff, says the organization’s website. Baird visited Ghana last year, bringing with him medication and supplies and treating 100 patients daily, says the website.