Noose lands Grande Prairie physician in hot water

A Grande Prairie doctor has been found guilty of unprofessional conduct after fashioning and hanging a noose in an operating room door in June 2016, a regulatory body hearing has found.

A College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) hearing tribunal determined the rope fashioned by Dr. Wynand Wessels at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital was intended for “anyone misbehaving in the hospital” and due to his position of power, Wessels was sending a message that could be interpreted as intimidating or threatening.

However, the tribunal said there was not enough evidence to conclude Wessels was “motivated by racism or intended to create a racist symbol when he hung the rope on the door.”

Wessels, through his lawyer, admitted to creating the noose on June 24, 2016, but said during the October hearing it was intended to be a lasso and a symbol for tying people up, which he did in boy scouts as a team-building exercise.

He said it was an “inside joke” between himself and a nurse about the “dysfunction in the hospital.”

Wessels, who has lived in Canada for 15 years, said he grew up in South Africa and claimed a noose is not a sinister symbol or representative of racism in that country.

The CPSA determined his actions were neither a joke nor “simply an attempt at team building.”

It said Wessels was “motivated by the discord in the hospital and hung the rope on the door with the intention of sending a message to one or more individuals.”

“Dr. Wessels put the rope in a location where his medical colleagues and the hospital staff could view the rope,” the ruling states.

“Based on the location of the rope, and the position of power Dr. Wessels held, the hearing tribunal found he acted with the intention of sending a message and that such message would be reasonably interpreted as intimidating or threatening.”

The tribunal also found Wessels' conduct “offended some of his colleagues and was perceived as violent and racist by some people.”

“Conduct which offends people and can be perceived as such a negative symbol or gesture, regardless of intention, harms the integrity of the profession,” the ruling states.

The CPA found Wessels contravened the Health Professions Act, the Code of Ethics & Professionalism and CPSA'S Standards of Practice, and harmed the integrity of the profession.

His penalty will be decided by the tribunal at a later date.