Canadian radiologist details ongoing feud with employer, says she has experienced workplace bullying
A radiologist in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, alleges that she lost her hospital privileges in 2017 as part of a larger campaign of workplace bullying she has experienced while working at James Paton Memorial Hospital.
“I was basically being told that 'you're not welcome here' and that's certainly how I felt,” Dr. Paula Kennedy said in an interview with CBC News. “It's a really awful feeling. As a doctor, you don't go to medical school so you can sit at home.”
Kennedy’s privileges were reinstated after a repeal, but she chose to take medical leave due to no longer feeling safe at work.
Kennedy was chief of radiology in 2015. When a promotion came up, she says she was passed up for the position unfairly. She complained to administrators from Central Health, but alleges her complaints were met by attempts to harm her reputation. She has filed numerous complaints since then, including one with the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission.
Kennedy’s experience has significant ties to the controversy surrounding Michelle Ong, MD, a Gander radiologist who spoke out in 2015 after being let go from her job in the last stages of her pregnancy. Kennedy came out in support of Ong, even being quoted in the original reporting by CBC News, and alleges that Central Health was “angry” about her public comments.
A spokesperson for Central Health did not agree to an interview with CBC News, but did issue a statement that said they “do not accept disrespectful behavior in our facilities or online.”
“We have established policies, processes, and people in place to address client complaints, workplace conflicts, performance accountability, and allegations of bullying and harassment," the statement read.
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Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.