To be discontinued: $100K lawsuit against doctor who breached 10-year service contract to be dropped

A $100,000 lawsuit filed against a Vancouver doctor by a Northern Manitoba community development agency is set to be dropped shortly after both parties reached an agreement.“The Pas CDC (Community Development Corporation) and I have reached an agreement as of November 22, 2023,” Dr. Andrea Gael Kinnear Wilson wrote the Medical Post in a private LinkedIN message. “There is no active action and The Pas CDC is ‘pleased’ with our agreement for me to repay the loan in 2023 rather than 2025.”According to Dr. Kinnear’s message, the The Pas CDC—an agency that leads economic, community and tourism development for the northern Manitoba town—will file a notice of discontinuance of its legal action against her “without costs to either party after Dec. 31, 2023.”The CDC's lawyer, Jonathan Paterson, confirmed that the corporation has agreed to terms of resolution that call for Dr. Wilson to pay the loan in full by the end of the year "after which we've agreed to discontinue the claim once those funds are received."Under the original agreement, the loan was to be repaid in full by 2025, added Paterson.Dr. Wilson was thrust into the spotlight recently after a CBC News story revealed that the CDC had filed a lawsuit demanding she repay a $100,000 interest-free loan. Citing court documents, the CBC News article said the loan was tied to a service agreement Dr. Wilson had signed with the province’s Northern Regional Health Authority, which stipulated that for 10 years—from 2020 to 2030—she would work at least 880 clinical hours each year in The Pas. The 10-year contract was signed on July 1, 2020.Under the lending contract she entered into with the CDC, Dr. Wilson agreed to repay the loan if she terminated her agreement with the Northern Regional Health Authority or if the health authority cancelled the agreement or dismissed her for cause, according to CBC News.Read: Newfoundland and Labrador kicks off two financial incentive programs to attract family docsOn Nov. 7, 2021, Dr. Wilson left The Pas for Vancouver, initially working for Mint Integrative Health before moving to another clinic. About a year later, she was advised that she had breached her service agreement with Manitoba, and that it was being cancelled with cause. The CDC then demanded repayment of the loan by Dec. 31, 2022.Court documents quoted by CBC News claimed Dr. Wilson had “refused and/or neglected and continues to refuse and/or neglect to pay the loan.” Tracey Tremayne-Lloyd, founder of TTL Health Law in Toronto, said contracts such as the one signed by Dr. Wilson are enforceable by law.“In principle if you sign a contract and you take money, under the terms of that contract then you must fulfill the terms of the contract, whatever they are—whether it’s to build a house or buy a car,” she said “So I don't know why any physician would think that they could just walk away.”Had The Pas CDC gone ahead with its lawsuit and won, it could have recovered the monies it was seeking from B.C.’s public health insurance system.“Once they have a judgment against her . . . then they can give that to the B.C. government and they can take her billings to honour the judgement,” said Tremayne-Lloyd.Read: A $25,000 pat on the back: How one province is thanking its family doctors

To be discontinued: $100K lawsuit against doctor who breached 10-year service contract to be dropped

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