Health officials in Alberta say they will compare notes with investigators probing several B.C. doctors after hearing of concerns about patient care in that province.
Ten years before Dr. Mansukhlal Parmar worked as a radiologist in Powell River, B.C., staff had concerns about his quality of work in Fort McMurray, Alberta, according to retired nurse Barb Hoskins.
"There was a lot of talk at the time," recalled Hoskins. "He was interpreting scans and finding things that weren't there or missing things that were, same as what's happening (in B.C.)."
Hoskins believed when Dr. Parmar left Alberta in 2001 it was to get retrained.
"He left for remedial training and we heard he was into B.C. and that was where the story ended."
Dr. Parmar was never formally disciplined. Alberta health watchdogs won't say if they received complaints about Dr. Parmar.
But Albertan officials have said they will call the B.C. government to share data in a probe of three doctors who may have been misreading scans.
Parmar faced a formal complaint in 2008. MLA Nicholas Simons complained to the doctor's licencing body, the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons about an alleged misdiagnosis.
Vancouver Coastal Health, Parmar's employer, also fielded the complaint in 2008. In February 2009, they "resolved" the complaint, according to an official.
Opposition MLAs want to know why Parmar ended up as the only full-time radiologist in a remote community.
"That really shakes people's confidence," said NDP MLA Dawn Black. "And I think the government has to do a much better job explaining why that went on for so long."
Health Minister Colin Hansen says all questions will be asked by Dr. Douglas Cochrane, who is leading the probe into the doctors.
