Surgeon Suspended For 4 Months After Hanging Noose On Operating Room Door

A surgeon was issued a four-month suspension from service for hanging a noose on the door of an operating room where a Black colleague was working.

Dr. Wynand Wessels was a surgeon at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grand Prarie, Canada, when he resorted to what the disciplinary tribunal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) called "unprofessional behavior," Edmonton Journal reported.

The incident happened on June 24, 2016, at a hospital in Grande Prairie, Canada. Reports said Dr. Wessels, a white orthopedic surgeon from South Africa, fashioned a noose and taped it to the door of an operating room.

The matter was immediately reported to authorities. According to Dr. Wessels' colleague Dr. Scott Wiens, the noose was allegedly for a Black, Nigerian-born surgical assistant Dr. Oduche Onwuanyi.

However, Wessels was never suspended and faced no disciplinary action. Over the last four years, the incident was repeatedly reported by at least three doctors to the hospital's administration.

An investigation was eventually opened. However, the CPSA hearing panel did not find "sufficient evidence" to conclude Wessels was motivated by racism or intended to create a racist symbol.

According to Dr. Wessels, the noose was actually a lasso that was part of an inside joke with a nurse. He claimed he was unaware of the violent and racist meaning behind it.

In a decision released Monday, the tribunal said the noose was meant as a "warning to others."

"[Wessels] also could not have been unaware that a noose is symbolic of violence and would be perceived as a threat by anyone seeing it," it wrote.

In addition to suspension, Wessels has also been ordered to pay 75 percent of the costs associated with the hearing and the investigation leading to it.

“The tribunal feels that the sanction it has reached will primarily act as a general deterrent to the profession,” the decision read. "It believes it is highly unlikely that Dr. Wessels will ever act in such an unprofessional manner in the future."

Recently, a doctor was jailed after he ordered a nurse to kneel before his dog. The video of the incident, which showed the male nurse also being forced to salute the animal, had gone viral. An Egyptian court sentenced the doctor, identified as Dr. Amr Khairi, and two other hospital workers to two years in prison.