Unvaccinated doctor goes to court to get Kamloops hospital job back

A former Kamloops doctor who practiced at Royal Inland Hospital and refused to get a COVID-19 vaccination is taking Interior Health to court as she tries yet again to get reinstated.

Dr. Theresa Szezepaniak is taking her efforts to BC Supreme Court years after she was ousted from the Kamloops hospital.

Her refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccination got her hospital privileges revoked less than two years after she was hired, which was reaffirmed when she took her dispute to the province's Hospital Appeal Board.

Szezepaniak tried in October 2021 to get an exemption from the health authority's vaccine requirement, according to her petition filed in court.

The proposal failed and after issuing her employer a notice of liability to assert her right to choose, her hospital privileges were revoked.

Szezepaniak moved to 100 Mile House to work in a private practice, but she sought to have her privileges reinstated for part-time hospital work when she appealed to the Hospital Appeal Board.

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Represented by Kelowna lawyer Lee Turner, she's looking to the BC Supreme Court to override the board's decision and have her privileges reinstated or simply order the board to reconsider its November decision.

Interior Health hasn't responded to the petition.

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