CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A Summerside gynecologist who admitted to professional misconduct must wait to learn a disciplinary fate that may include suspension of his licence.
A three-month suspension of Dr. Henry Swart’s licence to practise was made in a joint recommendation by Swart’s lawyer and legal representation for the College of Surgeons and Physicians of P.E.I. at a board of inquiry hearing Tuesday morning.
The joint recommendation also calls for Swart to pay a $5,000 fine to the college, pay up to $15,000 for costs associated with the investigation and undertake and complete a course related to informed consent and patient autonomy.
The board will make its recommendations within the next 30 days and the Council of the College will rule on the recommendations in the coming months.
Swart admitted to performing a procedure the patient explicitly instructed him not to perform and one for which consent was required.
Swart performed a cystotomy, a surgical incision into the urinary bladder, in early 2017.
Lawyer Tom Laughlin told the board of inquiry that his client accepts responsibility for professional misconduct but wanted to make clear his actions were undertaken with good intentions.
“He was really trying to help,’’ said Laughlin.
Gordon MacKay, legal counsel for the College of Surgeons and Physicians of P.E.I., said in reading the agreed statement of facts that Swart performed the cystotomy with good intent but in hindsight recognized he made a poor decision.
Swart, added MacKay, did the procedure to assist the patient but admits he went beyond his authority.
Swart was placed on restricted practice in 2010 following a decision by the council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of P.E.I. The council ordered that Swart’s practice be restricted so that he was not to manage patients with cervical dysplasia.
Swart, 61, has been practising medicine for over 31 years and has been registered to practice obstetrics and gynecology on P.E.I. since 1993.
He is currently chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the Prince County Hospital and in the past served on the medical advisory commission for Health P.E.I.
The board of inquiry imposed a publication ban under the Medical Act prohibiting the publication of any information that may identify the complainant.
RELATED: College of Physicians investigating Summerside doctor for professional misconduct
