A Kelowna Sikh group is concerned about how a local Sikh doctor has been treated by Interior Health.
In an open letter to B.C. Premier David Eby written on “behalf of many members of the Sikh community in Kelowna,” Surinder Singh Shergill, President of Kelowna's Gurdwara Guru Amardas Darbar Sikh Society, highlighted what he calls “persistent harassment and discrimination” against Dr. Malvinder Hoonjan by Interior Health.
The issue stems from IH's decision to move vitreo-retinal surgeries from Kamloops' Royal Inland Hospital, where Dr. Hoonjan previously worked, to Kelowna General Hospital in 2019. IH did not grant Dr. Hoonjan surgical privileges at KGH when this move was made, leading to a long, drawn out process that required the doctor to seek remedy from the Hospital Appeal Board.
After years of fighting with IH, Dr. Hoonjan is now currently working in the surgical department at KGH.
In Shergill's letter, he tells Premier Eby that his Sikh community has “lost confidence in Interior Health” and seeks Eby's intervention. Shergill notes that Dr. Hoonjan is not a part of the society's involvement in the matter, but that they “cannot stand by while Dr. Hoonjan faces unjust treatment.”
“The current situation at Interior Health, particularly in its treatment of clinicians from ethnic and religious minority groups, is deeply troubling,” Shergill says in the letter.
“How can one clinician stand up to a multi-billion-dollar organization with the resources to retain lawyers and chase people out of town? Dr. Hoonjan is one of the most educated members of our Sikh community, and we cannot be complacent in the face of the system's mistreatment of him.
“Our community is diverse, with professionals contributing significantly to various sectors of our economy and society. We must not be reduced to stereotypes of taxi drivers and berry pickers. We demand and deserve a healthcare system that strives for improvement, not one that protects the status quo.”
Manik Dhir of the Gurdwara Guru Amardas Darbar Sikh Society says that prior to writing their open letter to Premier Eby, their organization reached out to IH to discuss their concerns with the health authority's management. But they never received a response.
“They chose to ignore the email, not even acknowledgement,” Dhir said. “That just tells you right there of what the intent looks like. Clearly the intent is not for an open dialogue, the intent is 'we're going to do what we're going to do.'
“From a discrimination perspective, I'd be curious to know how many others this has been happening to ... when doctors who are renowned and who people praise are facing these types of issues, what is the general public going to face.”
Dhir says the challenges Dr. Hoonjan has faced with IH “seems directly” related to racism.
“Our intent was to approach IH to clear the air. If you see no response from IH coming forward, what are we to presume?” Dhir asked.
But while the local Sikh society did not receive a response from IH, it sounds like the health authority may now be changing its tune.
“Interior Health has a zero-tolerance for racism and this is outlined in our anti-racism policy,” IH told Castanet in a written response. “We are tracking down this request from the Gurdwara Guru Amardas Darbar Sikh Society and are happy to meet with them.”
Dhir says they'd like to speak to Premier Eby to find out what can be done to ensure the issues Dr. Hoonjan has faced doesn't happen to others in the future.
“For the Sikh religion, we always stand up for injustice, historically, it's a founding principle of Sikhism,” Dhir said.
While IH confirms Dr. Hoonjan is now working at KGH's surgical department, it's been an uphill battle for the doctor.
Back in December 2022, the Hospital Appeal Board ruled in favour of ophthalmologist Dr. Hoonjan in his bid to get his surgical privileges at KGH, following the 2019 move from Royal Inland Hospital. In the decision, the board ruled Dr. Hoonjan experienced “repeated differential adverse treatment by IH at almost every level.”
After the Hospital Appeal Board gave IH 60 days to sort out a “reintroduction plan” with Dr. Hoonjan, IH never made contact with Dr. Hoonjan about a plan until the doctor went back to the Hospital Appeal Board.
As part of his reintroduction, Dr. Hoonjan asked two vitreoretinal surgeons at KGH if he could observe their surgeries, but both said no, despite there being other medical students and learners in the operating room. The Hospital Appeal Board said this exclusion of Dr. Hoonjan was “confounding and further illustrates the ongoing marginalization of [Dr. Hoonjan].”
Instead, Dr. Hoonjan applied for and was approved to perform the same types of surgeries in Ontario that IH was preventing him from performing at KGH.
The board called IH's conduct “problematic” and “troubling,” and said IH showed “no evidence of responsibility towards the [Dr. Hoonjan's] situation or compassion for its wrongful treatment of the [Dr. Hoonjan].”
