Doctor’s professional conduct hearing verdict will take a while

By KENDALL KING on October 22, 2022.

A professional conduct hearing for a Medicine Hat doctor accused of sexual assault concluded Friday, however it could be several weeks to months before a verdict is announced.

Dr. Ian Gebhardt, a family physician operating in Medicine Hat since 2007, stood before an Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons hearing tribunal this week regarding a 2017 accusation of inappropriate, sexual conduct with a patient.

Gebhardt was accused of sexually assaulting a developmentally delayed teenaged patient in June of 2017.

Arrested and criminally charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation in August of 2017, Gebhardt went to trial the same year, however the trial stayed and charges against him were dropped in early 2018 after the patient in question provided contradictory testimony.

Now, Gebhardt faces CPSA disciplinary action if the hearing tribunal finds him guilty of breaching CPSA practice standards, or the Canadian Medical Association’s Code of Ethics and Professionalism.

“If a regulated member is found guilty of unprofessional conduct, there are a variety of sanctions/orders that a hearing tribunal may consider, ranging from educational requirements/courses, costs of the investigation and hearing, and practice conditions, up to suspension or cancellation of their practice permit,” a CPSA representative said in a statement to the News.

If found not guilty, Gebhardt would be allowed to continue his practice, which is currently operating under restrictions that require patients to be older than 16 years of age and prohibit narcotics prescription.

No date has been set for the hearing tribunal’s decision to be made public, but it could take as long as several months.

In the meantime, Gebhardt continues to be the subject of an ongoing investigation by York Regional Police in Ontario into two separate accusations of sexual assault made by former patients.

Both former patients allege Gebhardt assaulted them while they were children between 1988-1989. Gebhardt is facing two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference in connection to the case. The News reached out to York Regional Police for an update on the case but received no response.

Gebhardt is working at his private practice Gebhardt Family Medicine, but is not accepting new patients at this time.

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