As from May 27, 2016, the following is imposed as a term, condition and
limitation on the certificate of registration held by Dr. Anselmo
Mendez-Fernandez in accordance with an undertaking and consent given by Dr.
Mendez-Fernandez to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario:
UNDERTAKING, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND CONSENT
("Undertaking")
of
DR. ANSELMO MENDEZ-FERNANDEZ
("Dr. Mendez-Fernandez")
to
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF ONTARIO
(the "College")
A. PREAMBLE
(1) In this Undertaking:
"Code" means the Health Professions Procedural Code, which is Schedule 2
to the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 18, as
amended;
"Discipline Committee" means the Discipline Committee of the College.
(2) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, certificate of registration number 97060, am a
member of the College. The College has received information regarding my
standard of practice.
(3) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that I am currently the subject of a
College investigation bearing File Number 7214535 (the "Investigation")
into allegations that I failed to maintain the standard of practice of
the profession and that I am incompetent.
(4) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge and agree that, upon receiving an
original copy of this Undertaking as signed by me, the College has agreed
to take no further action.
B. UNDERTAKING
(5) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, understand and agree that I am bound by this
Undertaking from the date on which I sign it.
(6) Practice Restrictions
(a) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake that, effective immediately, I
will cease to engage in any of the following areas of practice:
(i) Emergency medicine (including any on-call emergency medicine
services); and,
(ii) Hospital-based obstetrics
(b) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge, for greater clarity, that
this restriction does not prohibit me from providing antenatal care
to patients in their first and second trimester in my office
(patients up to 28 weeks pregnant).
(7) In-patient Non-Emergency Hospital- Based Practice
(a) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that I do not currently have
privileges at any Hospital, and as such am not providing any
in-patient care;
(b) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, agree that should I seek to obtain
privileges to provide in-patient care, I will notify the College
within 15 days of my application;
(c) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, agree that if I obtain privileges, prior
to the commencement of providing services, I shall retain a
supervisor acceptable to the College (the "Clinical
Supervisor(s)"), for six (6) months;
(d) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that I have reviewed the
Clinical Supervisor(s)'s undertaking, attached hereto as Appendix
"A", and understand what is required of the Clinical Supervisor(s).
The Clinical Supervisor(s) will, at minimum:
(i) Review at least 20 of my patient charts once every month;
(ii) Meet with me once every month;
(iii) Discuss any concerns arising from the chart reviews;
(iv) Make recommendations to me for practice improvements and
ongoing professional development and inquire into my
compliance with the recommendations;
(v) Perform any other duties, such as reviewing other documents
or conducting interviews with staff or colleagues, that the
Clinical Supervisor(s) deem necessary to my Clinical
Supervision; and
(vi) Submit written reports to the College every three months, or
more frequently if the Clinical Supervisor(s) has concerns
about my standard of practice.
(e) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that the charts reviewed shall
be selected by the Clinical Supervisor(s).
(f) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake to cooperate fully with the
Clinical Supervision of my practice, conducted under the term of
this Undertaking and Appendix "A" attached, and to abide by the
recommendations of my Clinical Supervisor(s), including but not
limited to, any recommended practice improvements and ongoing
professional development.
(g) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that I shall not provide any
in-hospital services until I have ensured the College has received
the executed Appendix A from a Clinical Supervisor who has been
approved by the College.
(h) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, agree that if I obtain privileges, and
obtain a Clinical Supervisor, after the completion of six months of
supervision, I will submit to assessment of my practice ("the
In-Patient Hospital Assessment") by an assessor or assessors
selected by the College (the "Assessor(s)"). I acknowledge and
agree that the assessment may include a chart review, direct
observation of my care, interviews with colleagues and co-workers,
feedback from patients and any other tools deemed necessary by the
College.
(i) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake to co-operate fully with the
assessment, conducted under the term of this Undertaking.
(j) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that the results of the
Reassessment will be provided to me and reported to the College and
the report may form the basis of further action by the College.
(8) Professional Education
(a) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake to participate in and
successfully complete the following professional education:
(i) One to one instruction in a program(s) satisfactory to the
College in communications;
(ii) Safe Opioid Prescribing Series, all components
(b) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that a report or reports may
be provided to the College regarding my progress and compliance
with the professional education set out in section (8)(a).
(c) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake to complete this requirement by
September 2016 or, if no satisfactory program is available by that
time, by the first possible opportunity thereafter.
(9) Assessment of Family Medicine Office-Based Practice
(a) Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake that, approximately six months
after the execution of this Undertaking, I will submit to an
assessment of my practice ("the Family Practice Assessment") by an
assessor or assessors selected by the College (the "Assessor(s)").
I acknowledge and agree that the assessment may include a chart
review, direct observation of my care, interviews with colleagues
and co-workers, feedback from patients and any other tools deemed
necessary by the College.
(b) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake to co-operate fully with the
assessment, conducted under the term of this Undertaking.
(c) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that the results of the Family
Practice Assessment will be provided to me and reported to the
College and the report may form the basis of further action by the
College.
(10) Monitoring
(a) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake to inform the College of each
and every location where I practise or have privileges, including,
but not limited to, hospital(s), clinic(s) and office(s), in any
jurisdiction (collectively my "Practice Location(s)"), within
fifteen (15) days of executing this Undertaking. Going forward, I
further undertake to inform the College of any and all new Practice
Locations within fifteen (15) days of commencing practice at that
location, in addition to any other obligations set out in paragraph
7 above.
(b) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake and agree that I will submit to,
and not interfere with, unannounced inspections of my Practice
Locations and patient charts by a College representative for the
purposes of monitoring my compliance with the provisions of this
Undertaking.
(c) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, give my irrevocable consent to the College
to make appropriate enquiries of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan
and/or any person or institution that may have relevant
information, in order for the College to monitor my compliance with
the provisions of this Undertaking.
(11) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, undertake to comply with the provisions of this
Undertaking and acknowledge that a breach by me of any provision of this
Undertaking may constitute an act of professional misconduct and/or
incompetence, and may result in a referral of specified allegations to
the Discipline Committee.
C. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
(12) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that I shall be solely responsible
for payment of all fees, costs, charges, expenses, etc. arising from the
implementation of any of the provisions of this Undertaking.
(13) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge and confirm that I have read and
understand the provisions of this Undertaking and that I have obtained
independent legal counsel in reviewing and executing this Undertaking, or
have waived my right to do so.
(14) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that this entire Undertaking
constitutes terms, conditions, and limitations on my certificate of
registration for the purposes of section 23 of the Code. I understand
that this Undertaking shall be information on the College's Register that
is available to the public during the time period that the Undertaking
remains in effect.
(15) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, acknowledge that the following summary will
appear on the College's Register that is available to the public during
the time period that this Undertaking remains in effect:
Dr. Mendez-Fernandez was the subject of a College investigation into
whether he has failed to maintain the standard of practice of the
profession or is incompetent. As a result of the investigation, Dr.
Mendez-Fernandez agreed that he must not practise any of the following:
emergency medicine, and hospital-based obstetrics.
If Dr. Mendez-Fernandez obtains privileges to provide care to in-patients
in a Hospital (non-emergency medicine), he will retain a Supervisor and
submit to an assessment of his practice.
Dr. Mendez-Fernandez shall complete a course in communications and safe
opioid prescribing.
Dr. Mendez-Fernandez shall submit to an assessment of his family practice
in in approximately 6 months.
D. CONSENT
(16) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, give my irrevocable consent to the College to
provide this Undertaking to any Chief(s) of Staff, or a colleague with
similar responsibilities, at any Practice Location ("Chief(s) of Staff"),
and to provide said Chief(s) of Staff with any information the College
has that led to the circumstances of my entering into this Undertaking
and/or any information arising from the monitoring of my compliance with
this Undertaking.
(17) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, give my irrevocable consent to the College to
provide the following information to any person who requires this
information for the purposes of facilitating my completion of the
professional education set out in section (8) above and to all Clinical
Supervisors and Assessors:
(a) any information the College has that led to the circumstances of my
entering into this Undertaking;
(b) any information arising from any investigation into, or assessment
of, my practice; and
(c) any information arising from the monitoring of my compliance with
this Undertaking.
(18) I, Dr. Mendez-Fernandez, give my irrevocable consent to any person who
facilitates my completion of the professional education set out in
section (8) above, and to all Clinical Supervisors, Chiefs of Staff and
Assessors, to disclose to the College, and to one another, any
information:
(a) relevant to this Undertaking;
(b) relevant to the provisions of the Clinical Supervisor's undertaking
set out at Appendix "A";
(c) relevant to the Assessments;
(d) relevant for the purposes of monitoring my compliance with this
Undertaking; and/or
(e) which comes to his or her attention in the course of providing the
professional education set out in section (6) above and which he or
she reasonably believes indicates a potential risk of harm to my
patients.
Terms and conditions imposed on certificate by: Member