MONTREAL – Laval police are investigating after an incident in a hospital operating room left one patient dead. The doctor involved has been relieved of their duties.
The ‘event,’ as the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de Laval (CISSS) calls it in a statement, occured Nov. 1 at the Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé in Laval, on Montreal’s north shore.
It is not clear if the wording ‘event’ refers to what may have happened in the operating room or the day the patient died.
The hospital and Laval police have refused to release any information about the patient, including their age or what kind of procedure they were undergoing at the time.
The CISSS says the incident came to the attention of health authorities after operating room employees filed a complaint to the commissioner.
Officials say after launching their own investigation, they decided to call Laval police, as well as the Coroner’s office and various professional orders.
The doctor in question is an anesthesiologist, according to a spokesperson with the Syndicat des infirmières inhalothérapeutes et infirmiers auxilières de Laval (SIIIAL), which is associated with the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ).
After being suspended, the doctor reportedly resigned.
Hospital officials have met with the patient’s family and are offering psychological support to its employees.
The coroner's office identified the victim as 84-year-old Raymond Bissonnette from Laval.
With files from the Canadian Press
