B.C. doctor quits, says she was punished for unsanctioned overdose prevention sites

A Vancouver Island doc progressive successful mounting up unsanctioned overdose prevention sites extracurricular hospitals has resigned from her positions with Island Health, claiming she was placed connected permission arsenic punishment for her nationalist advocacy work.

But Island Health says successful a connection it’s not punishing Dr. Jess Wilder and administrative permission is to guarantee radical are inactive paid portion they are nether investigation.

Wilder, a co-founder of the radical Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, says successful a resignation missive dated Feb. 5 that she’s leaving her positions with Island Health “immediately.”

Wilder says she was placed connected administrative permission connected Jan. 22 from her doc pb positions successful harm simplification and education, and addiction medicine astatine Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

She says successful a abstracted missive addressed to colleagues astatine Island Health that she was placed connected permission “pending probe of alleged accusations” related to her “public advocacy work,” though it says she volition proceed her objective and patient-facing work.

Wilder says the probe is confidential and she directed questions to Dr. Ash Heaslip, with Island Health’s Addiction Medicine and Substance Use Program, and Dr. Randal Mason, the program’s determination aesculapian director.

Doctors for Safer Drug Policy acceptable up unauthorized overdose prevention sites astatine the Nanaimo infirmary and astatine Royal Jubilee Hospital successful Victoria successful November 2024, successful an effort to unit the provincial authorities to enactment connected what the radical says is an “unfulfilled committedness to code cause usage successful hospitals.”

Island Health said successful a connection Thursday that its addictions medicine services are administered by dedicated adept physicians focused connected caring for patients, and harm simplification remains a “foundational constituent of our substance-use strategy of care.”

Wilder’s resignation missive says “advocacy is simply a halfway competency of being a physician,” and warned that her sidelining would discourage others “from doing what is close implicit what is easy.”

“For excessively long, physicians person been shamefully soundless connected these matters. In my view, we beryllium it to our patients to talk up — loudly, erstwhile indispensable — for the tools and policies needed to assistance support them safe,” Wilder’s missive says.

“Regardless of the titles I hold, I volition proceed to beryllium connected the beforehand lines of this crisis, warring for evidence-based, compassionate attraction for our patients.”

This study by The Canadian Press was archetypal published Feb. 6, 2025.