HALIFAX - Former Amherst physician Dr. Shahid Awan will receive close to a half-million dollars from the Cumberland Health Authority through a settlement related to a suit he launched against the body for breach of contract.
Awan, who was medical chief of staff at the former Highland View hospital and an anesthetist at that hospital as well as the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre, settled his lawsuit with the health authority in May.
In a written decision, handed down Monday by Supreme Court Justice C. Richard Coughlan, Awan will receive $475,000 as well as prejudgment interest of 3.205 per cent and costs of $12,500.
The health authority was also ordered to pay $2,000 in costs for a single-day hearing and $4,000 from an early summary judgment.
The Cumberland Health Authority has already paid $95,000 to the doctor.
The decision follows an oral decision delivered in court in Halifax in mid-September.
Awan, who came to Amherst in 1983, had been seeking $1.14 million plus damages when he launched his suit against the health authority and the province in January 2004.
He dropped his legal action against the province a year later and offered two years ago to settle the case with the health authority for $475,000, plus prejudgment interest and costs. The health authority accepted the offer and sent a cheque for $570,000.
The veteran anesthetist, with more than 20 years experience at both regional hospitals, contended that the province's Financial Measures Act of 2002 improperly terminated an agreement he had with the health authority and failed to pay him severance of $37,598.
He also said the legislation was designed with knowledge it would inflect particular harm on him, thus violating his Charter rights by depriving him of contractural benefits.
Awan accepted a position at a hospital in Ontario in late 2005. He has worked on a locum basis since then.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
