TORONTO - Two other hospitals will be scrutinized by Ontario investigators as they try to uncover why unnecessary mastectomies were performed at a Windsor hospital, but there are no plans to widen the probe further, Health Minister Deb Matthews said Monday.
"There is absolutely no indication that this goes beyond Windsor," she said.
Three doctors will start the investigation this week at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital -- where two unnecessary mastectomies were performed -- as well as Windsor Regional Hospital and Leamington District Memorial Hospital, Matthews said.
They will review pathology reports going back two years and notify patients if they received incorrect results, she said.
Some cases will be fast-tracked, but the government will wait for the advice of its investigators before deciding whether they need to dig deeper into the past, Matthews added.
"Our highest priority is to assure people who have had tests done that the results are, in fact, verified," she said.
The investigators will also have broad powers to dig up any documents they need and hire pathologists from outside the province if they need help, she said.
They are expected to provide regular updates to the ministry and the regional health authority, with the aim of delivering a report in June, Matthews said.
Former chief coroner Dr. Barry McLellan will co-ordinate the investigation, with Dr. Robin McLeod looking into surgical errors and Dr. John Srigley reviewing pathology results.
As chief coroner, McLellan started a review five years ago of 45 child autopsies conducted by discredited Ontario pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, who was once considered a leading forensic expert.
That review revealed that mistakes had been made in 20 cases, which cast doubt on several criminal convictions and sparked a public inquiry into Smith's work that recommended greater oversight for pathologists.
The government announced the investigation last week amid revelations that more incidents of unnecessary surgeries and incorrect pathology reports might be uncovered in Windsor.
Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital has already launched a separate internal review into cases involving Dr. Barbara Heartwell, who performed the two unnecessary mastectomies, in addition to a pathology review underway since November.
Ontario's medical regulatory body, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, is also investigating Heartwell and pathologist Olive Williams.
The province included the other two Windsor-area hospitals in its investigation because Williams has reports connected to all three hospitals, according to the minister's spokesman.
Pathology services at all three hospitals are provided by a lab called Windsor Essex Pathology Associates, the hospitals said.
Heartwell had privileges at Leamington District Memorial Hospital from Feb. 11 to March 6 last year, but didn't perform any surgeries during that period, the hospital said.
According to Windsor Regional Hospital, Williams performed 171 pathology reviews of its patients during a six-week period in late 2009. The hospital said it reviewed those cases and concluded that there are "no issues of clinical significance."
The issue first came to light when Hotel-Dieu Grace found out that Heartwell had removed the breast of a woman who didn't have cancer.
Laurie Johnston of Leamington, Ont., had a mastectomy last November from Heartwell. The doctor admits she misread the results of a needle biopsy that found Johnston did not have cancer.
Janice Laporte, whose breast was removed by Heartwell in September 2001 but was told a week after her surgery that she didn't have cancer, came forward publicly after hearing about Johnston.
Heartwell has told the hospital a look into her past will uncover additional "cases of concern" involving incorrect pathology reports.
The provincial investigation will focus on reports of unnecessary surgery and errors in pathology reports, the quality of surgical care and pathology services, and the monitoring of patient care and professional staff conduct, the government said in a release.
It will also examine the role of the hospitals' medical advisory committees and the status of recommendations from all previous studies and reports regarding the quality of care, surgeries and pathology services.
The investigators will provide recommendations on hospital board accountability relating to pathology and surgical care provided in the hospitals, as well as identify steps the regional health authority and the hospital must undertake to respond to the issues identified in the investigation, according to the release.
Both McLeod and Srigley work at Cancer Care Ontario but hold positions elsewhere. McLeod, a surgeon, is also a professor at the University of Toronto. Srigley is a consultant pathologist at Credit Valley Hospital west of Toronto and a professor at Hamilton's McMaster University.
