Unvaccinated Port Alberni pediatrician stripped of hospital privileges
Posted November 9, 2021 7:44 am.
Last Updated November 9, 2021 8:00 am.
A doctor in a small Vancouver Island community who refuses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has lost his hospital privileges.
It’s a big deal for Port Alberni, given the community has only two pediatricians. While Dr. Chris McCollister is still able to work out of private practice, his new inability to work from the hospital raises questions about the ethics around such a move.
McCollister has made a choice, which he has a right to do, says bioethics expert Dr. Kerry Bowman with the University of Toronto.
However, Bowman says that doesn’t mean McCollister has a right to work while unvaccinated in a hospital with at-risk kids.
“He’s not wrong when he says this is my body, I should be able to decide this is what I do with my patients — all that is true. What is also true, however, is that we are in a public health emergency and we really have shifted from personal choice to what’s better for the largest number of people. And as a physician and a pediatrician, you’ve got a vulnerable population,” explained Bowman.
“The safety and needs of patients really do have to supersede the rights and choices of health care workers as I see it,” Bowman added.
While he believes there have been some intolerances when it comes to the treatment of unvaccinated people, Bowman says the safety and wellbeing of patients always needs to be at the centre.
“What he’s saying isn’t wrong, but I would argue that the safety of patients really needs to trump that,” Bowman told CityNews.
McCollister’s decision and the subsequent action taken against him has sparked conversation online. It has also prompted an online petition in support of the doctor, with thousands of people having already signed.
According to those behind the petition, which is directed at Health Minister Adrian Dix, McCollister has been working in Port Alberni since 1997.
“He is a precious resource to our community and has helped and supported hundreds of families in our community. As we are a smaller community every single doctor we have is needed,” the change.org page reads, adding the “effects on this community will be far reaching.”
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B.C. currently requires all health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Those who did not comply with the order were placed on leave as of Oct. 24, and face possible termination if they continue to refuse to get immunized.
Earlier this month, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry had strong words for those in the health care sector who refused to get on board.
“If people in our health care system are not recognizing the importance of vaccination then this is probably not the right profession for them,” she said.
At the time, the health minister said more than 95 per cent of health care workers were vaccinated.
While Bowman says it’s important to allow people to make their own choices, he once again stresses the safety and wellbeing of patients is paramount to all decisions.
He admits he understands the challenge McCollister losing his ability to work at the hospital leads to, given he is one of just two pediatricians there.
“They really do have challenges,” he said of smaller communities. “And the other side of the argument is if you go down by one health care worker in a small community, it is very, very difficult, and you are creating another challenge there. But I would say, from an ethical point of view, the safety and the wellbeing of patients really has to remain front and centre in a situation like this.”
McCollister has told CHEK News he is “not against vaccines,” and that he is “for multiple treatments including early home treatment that we’re just not hearing about.”
The Vancouver Island outlet reports he says his ability to make choices for his own body has been stripped from him and thousands of other health care workers who don’t want to get one of the current vaccines.
The vast majority of doctors and health care professionals have backed mandatory vaccination policies across Canada.
In August, the Canadian Medical Association and Canadian Nurses Association joined growing calls for mandatory vaccinations for health care workers, saying that policy would serve as an additional measure to protect patients, as well as those working in the industry.
