‘Cannot be reconciled with the public’s expectations of an ethical physician’: Calgary physician’s license stripped over sexual assault conviction

A Lethbridge doctor who was convicted of sexual assault in 2019 has had his practice permit cancelled and has been ordered to pay $8,500 investigation and hearing costs.In a rare move from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, Dr. Barry Wollach, a Calgary anesthesiologist, has had his permit permanently cancelled by a CPSA Discipline Tribunal for sexually assaulting a person in 2019. The Alberta Court of Justice convicted Dr. Wollach in October 2019 of sexually assaulting a female in 2016 and sentenced him to 30 months in jail. The college asked Dr. Wollach to surrender his practice permit in January 2019, when the Calgary police alerted it to Dr. Wollach’s criminal sexual assault charge, pending his trial. Dr. Wollach has not practiced medicine since. Dr. Wollach met the woman online, and according to the victim, forced himself on her at his residence. Although the female was not a patient of Dr. Wollach’s, the College says it seeks to maintain trust in the medical profession. “The CPSA is disturbed by the criminal charges,” the CPSA wrote in a press release in January 2019, when it first suspended his licence. “In order to maintain trust in the medical profession and to protect the public, we will use the Health Professions Act’s full authority to manage this situation.” After he was criminally convicted in October 2019, Dr. Wollach attempted to appeal his conviction, first to the Alberta Court of Appeal, which upheld his conviction. He then applied for leave to appeal his case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which was denied in November 2022. Since Dr. Wollach has now “exhausted his options,” the college said it was now time to permanently cancel his permit. “Sexual assault against any individual is reprehensible conduct that cannot be reconciled with the public’s expectations of an ethical physician,” wrote the tribunal in its May 1 decision. “Such conduct cannot be tolerated of a professional placed in a unique and highly sensitive trust position vis-a-vis the public, and therefore that warrants the most significant sanction from the college.” Along with having his permit permanently cancelled, Dr. Wollach was also ordered to pay $8,500 in hearing costs. In its decision, the tribunal acknowledged that Dr. Wollach retired from practice, but said that it required a public hearing in this case to give “transparency and accountability” and to “maintain the public trust in the College’s ability to regulate the profession and provide relevant direction to its members”.

‘Cannot be reconciled with the public’s expectations of an ethical physician’: Calgary physician’s license stripped over sexual assault conviction

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