US Surgeon Sues Alberta Health Services, Alleging Dishonest, Bad Faith Treatment

A young surgeon is suing Alberta Health Services, alleging senior AHS executives strung him along for two years when they knew they had no intention of hiring him for the job he had been offered and for which he had been specially trained at the University of Alberta.

The claims in the 12-page lawsuit allege a chronicle of behaviour by AHS that was misleading, dishonest, unfair and unreasonable in its “bad faith” dealings with Dr. Daniel O’Brien.

In a statement of claim filed last week, O’Brien, a head and neck surgeon with specialized training in complex sinus and skull-base surgeries, sued AHS for more than $3.2 million for lost income and damage to his career as both a surgeon and an academic.

The Tyee documented the travails of O’Brien, an American, and his Canadian wife, University of Alberta doctoral student Andrea Dekeseredy, who wanted to stay with their young son in Edmonton but left Canada for Omaha, Nebraska, after AHS failed to give O’Brien a clear picture of his potential future employment.

O’Brien and other surgeons say he was caught in a power struggle between surgeons who support Alberta’s publicly funded health-care system and those determined to implement, and capitalize on, the United Conservative Party government’s privatized surgical agenda.

In particular, the lawsuit contains allegations of efforts by Dr. Daniel O’Connell, a surgeon and senior AHS executive, to thwart the employment of O’Brien despite his selection by an independent committee.

It also alleges senior executives, including Dr. David Williams, a senior surgery manager for AHS and the University of Alberta, knew O’Brien would not be offered the position but never apprised him of this for two years despite numerous requests for information from O’Brien.

No statement of defence has been filed and the allegations contained in the lawsuit have not been proven in court. A spokesperson for Alberta Health Services told The Tyee, “As the matter is before the courts, AHS cannot comment on this case.”

Selected by hiring committee

O’Brien, who had permanent Canadian residency, began a clinical and research fellowship as an AHS employee in July 2020 and began his PhD in public health, with a subspecialty of rhinology, on Sept. 1, 2020.

He also had privileges as a head and neck surgeon at the University of Alberta Hospital and had a courtesy appointment as an academic with the university.

In October 2021, AHS and the university’s faculty of medicine opened a job competition for a surgeon/academic with specialized training in rhinology/endoscopic skull-base surgery, which O’Brien had through his fellowship training with prominent Edmonton surgeon Dr. Erin Wright. The candidate also required a PhD, which O’Brien was pursuing to satisfy this requirement.

Dr. Hadi Seikaly chaired the selection committee. But he was replaced as both the committee chair and zone section chief by O’Connell, who became the interim chief.

The lawsuit states that O’Connell also has a financial interest in Canadian Cancer Care, or CCC, and Edmonton Comprehensive Care & Family Medicine, which are privately owned clinics.

“The CCC provides clinical and operative resources for some, but not all, otolaryngologists employed by AHS in the Edmonton Zone on an overhead basis, taking a pre-negotiated percentage of all billings to Alberta Health,” the lawsuit states.

O’Brien and one other candidate were the only finalists for the job. They were interviewed by the entire committee, including O’Connell, in February 2022.

“Dr. O’Connell participated as a member of the selection committee, despite multiple conflicts of interest,” the lawsuit states.

“O’Connell had served as a reference to the other candidate for the position and had a prior financial connection to the other candidate through his interest in the [Edmonton Comprehensive Care & Family Medicine clinic].”

When it became clear that the majority of the committee supported the hiring of O’Brien, “Dr. O’Connell suggested to Dr. Williams that the position need not be filled at all, citing [among other things] a shortage of available otolaryngology surgical resources to allocate to rhinology.”

The resources issues had never been raised by O’Connell during the selection committee process and were not disclosed to O’Brien.

On March 7, 2022, the committee recommended O’Brien be hired. O’Connell disagreed, and the lawsuit alleges he went against the wishes of the committee in an attempt to stop the appointment.

On March 10, 2022, O’Connell emailed Williams and recommended the position not be filled.

“AHS did not communicate this to [O’Brien] at any time over the approximately two years of ensuing correspondence,” the lawsuit states.

Allegations of private clinic favouritism

On March 25, 2022, Williams asked the committee to hold off announcing O’Brien’s selection. O’Brien was never told O’Connell opposed his appointment, nor was it mentioned that the position might be “dissolved.”

The lawsuit details how senior AHS executives effectively refused to provide O’Brien with any information in response to his queries about what was happening with the job he had been offered, even after O’Brien told them that the delay was jeopardizing both his and his wife’s doctoral degrees at the University of Alberta, and his child’s education.

O’Brien needed his surgical privileges to complete his PhD, to operate his clinical practice and to earn a living.

At a June 7, 2022, meeting, his fellow surgeons recommended those privileges be extended because it would not affect them or their surgical resources. O’Connell opposed the extension.

Five days later, on June 12, the Edmonton Comprehensive Care & Family Medicine clinic or the Canadian Cancer Care clinic, of which O’Connell was part owner, began to solicit O’Brien, the lawsuit states.

“[O’Brien] was told by a CCC representative that he could have a “full, well-billing practice with pretty good operating scope” if he would work with the CCC or one of its affiliates.”

O’Brien considered the offer but eventually rejected it.

On June 29, 2022, at the request of his AHS superiors, O’Connell extended O’Brien’s privileges for another six months to Dec. 31, 2022, but O’Brien was given no clinical or operating allocations.

The next day, the AHS chief medical officer of health told O’Brien that a resource allocation review was underway and would have to be completed before a decision was made on his job.

Stonewalling forced move to US, says suit

AHS ignored numerous requests from O’Brien for information over the next few months. The resource allocation review was completed in November 2022, but O’Brien was not told.

“Surgical resource allotments for the Section were increased and distributed in a way that favoured Section members affiliated with the [Canadian Cancer Care clinic] over those that were not,” the lawsuit says.

On Nov. 30, 2022, O’Brien again asked AHS for information about the status of his job and detailed the stress the uncertainty was causing him and his family. He also formally asked AHS for an extension of his privileges beyond Dec. 31, 2022, “but AHS refused to reply or acknowledge receipt of his request,” the lawsuit alleges.

O’Brien gave up and started work as a rhinologist on Jan. 17, 2023, in Omaha.

He continued, however, to hold out hope the job offer in Edmonton would materialize and he repeatedly asked AHS for updates on the job.

On June 21, 2023, O’Brien asked AHS to continue his “active” status as a doctor so he could accept the job if it was eventually offered to him.

Instead, they denied the application and placed him in the “inactive” category, which meant he would need to reapply as a new physician to obtain hospital privileges, which in turn were required to accept the job.

On Dec. 1, 2023, AHS named Dr. Daniel O’Connell as the permanent clinical section chief.

“On Dec. 2, 2023, [O’Brien] again requested an update from AHS regarding the position,” reads the lawsuit. “AHS did not respond.”

If you have any information for this story, or information for another story, please contact Charles Rusnell in confidence via email.