TORONTO, ON – The Discipline Committee of the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario has revoked the certificate of registration of Zoe McIntosh, a dental hygienist who engaged in a multi-year pattern of non-compliance with the profession’s regulatory body. In a decision, cited as Ontario (College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario) v McIntosh, 2024 ONCDHO 1 (CanLII), released on April 25, 2024, the panel found Ms. McIntosh’s persistent failure to adhere to professional requirements and her refusal to cooperate with an investigation rendered her “ungovernable,” leaving revocation as the only suitable penalty to protect the public interest.
The case against Ms. McIntosh began over four years ago, on January 25, 2020, when she was randomly selected for a routine peer and practice assessment as part of the College’s Quality Assurance Program. This program is a mandatory component of professional self-regulation, designed to ensure that all dental hygienists maintain their competence and provide safe, effective care. Ms. McIntosh was initially given a deadline of January 31, 2021, to submit her professional portfolio and records for review.
According to testimony from Terri-Lynn Macartney, the Manager of the College’s Quality Assurance Program, Ms. McIntosh failed to submit her records by the deadline. After an extension to February 26, 2021, was also missed, the College’s Quality Assurance Committee directed her to take a different path. On March 4, 2021, she was informed that she was now required to complete a written assessment and participate in an onsite practice assessment by April 4, 2021. She did not meet this new deadline either.
The College continued its attempts to bring Ms. McIntosh into compliance. In May 2021, the College Registrar wrote to her regarding her failures, imposing a $50 administrative fee for the delay. Ms. McIntosh re-established contact with the College on July 11, 2021, confirming she had paid the fee and stating she had not been practicing. Because she was not actively practicing, the requirement for an onsite assessment was changed to a Clinical Competency Evaluation. The College set a new deadline of August 12, 2021, for her to complete the written assessment and make arrangements for the evaluation. While Ms. McIntosh did complete the written portion, she failed to provide the necessary documents for the evaluation.
Over the subsequent months, the College provided further extensions and opportunities. In September 2021, Ms. McIntosh advised she had been sick and requested an extension but did not follow through with the required paperwork. By October 2021, the College explicitly warned her that continued non-compliance could lead to a referral for professional misconduct. Another set of deadlines in December 2021 came and went without a response.
The situation was complicated on February 11, 2022, when Ms. McIntosh’s certificate of registration was suspended for non-payment of her annual fees. However, she reinstated her certificate six months later, on August 17, 2022. The College immediately resumed its efforts, reminding her of the outstanding Quality Assurance requirements. Despite a series of new deadlines through the fall of 2022, Ms. McIntosh’s compliance remained incomplete. She submitted some, but not all, of the required documentation in October 2022, notably failing to provide a certificate for an N95 mask fit test. After a final warning in November 2022 was ignored, the Quality Assurance Committee referred the matter to the College’s Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) on January 20, 2023, alleging professional misconduct.
The ICRC appointed Roula Anastasopoulos on February 6, 2023, to investigate the allegations. Ms. Anastasopoulos testified at the hearing that she made numerous attempts to contact Ms. McIntosh between February and April 2023 via email and telephone to schedule an interview, all of which went unanswered. Taking a more serious step, the investigator served Ms. McIntosh with a formal summons on May 2, 2023, compelling her to attend an interview on May 18. Ms. McIntosh neither responded to the summons nor appeared for the interview. A final attempt by the ICRC in August 2023 to have her agree to an undertaking to refrain from practicing until her requirements were met was also ignored.
A discipline hearing was held via videoconference on March 5, 2024. Ms. McIntosh did not attend and was not represented by counsel. After confirming that she had been given proper notice, the panel proceeded with the hearing in her absence, deeming her to have denied the allegations.
The panel found the evidence presented by the College’s witnesses to be credible, clear, and convincing. It concluded that Ms. McIntosh had committed multiple acts of professional misconduct. These included failing to cooperate with the Quality Assurance Committee, failing to reply to written inquiries from the College, failing to comply with a committee’s direction, and failing to cooperate with a College investigator. The panel also found her actions constituted conduct that would be reasonably regarded by her peers as disgraceful, dishonourable, unprofessional, and unbecoming a dental hygienist. The panel noted that ignoring a summons was an extremely serious failure of her professional obligations.
In determining the penalty, the College argued for revocation, stating that Ms. McIntosh’s pattern of disregard for its authority showed she was unwilling to be governed. The panel agreed, describing her as “ungovernable.” It found that her “total neglect of her duties and obligations to the College” made any remedial measures ineffective and that revocation was the only penalty that could protect the public, maintain confidence in the profession, and send a clear message that such conduct will not be tolerated.
The panel ordered that Ms. McIntosh be formally reprimanded, with the reprimand appearing on the public register. It directed the Registrar to revoke Ms. McIntosh’s certificate of registration effective immediately. Finally, she was ordered to pay the College costs in the amount of $13,852.94 within 30 days.
