Kingston and the Islands Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Ted Hsu says Ontario should stop prolonging its legal dispute with Kingston physician Dr. Elaine Ma after the province suffered another court defeat in the case tied to pandemic-era COVID-19 vaccination clinic billings.
On May 8, 2026, the Court of Appeal for Ontario denied the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) leave to appeal a December 2025 Divisional Court ruling that partially favoured Ma in the long-running dispute over more than $600,000 in vaccination clinic billings — money OHIP had insisted Ma must repay because of alleged billing non-compliance.
The Divisional Court had previously found it was unreasonable for the Health Services Appeal and Review Board (HSARB) to conclude, when assessing Ma’s billings, that the COVID-19 pandemic did not constitute an “extenuating circumstance.” Rather than overturning the repayment order outright, the court had directed HSARB to reconsider how much, if anything, Ma should ultimately be required to repay.
“I am glad that the Court of Appeal has supported the lower court’s finding,” Hsu told Kingstonist in a written statement. “I would have been surprised if OHIP’s appeal had succeeded.”
Hsu also questioned whether the province should continue pursuing the matter before HSARB.
“I think the province should not prolong the proceedings,” he said. “Any delay is a further cost to a physician who took the initiative to protect the public during a once-in-a-century health crisis.”
The case has drawn broader attention within Ontario’s medical community because of concerns about how physicians who rapidly organized mass vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic are now being scrutinized years later through ordinary administrative billing processes.
Ma, who organized 48 mass vaccination clinics in Kingston during the pandemic, has argued the years-long dispute risks discouraging physicians from stepping forward during future public health emergencies.
In comments previously provided to Kingstonist following the Court of Appeal decision, Ma said the province was sending “exactly the wrong message” to physicians: “that stepping up during a crisis may later expose them to years of personal and financial risk.”
Hsu said he shares those concerns.
“There will be future health crises which require swift, possibly out-of-the-box action, and physicians may hesitate because of this case,” he said.
Asked whether he planned to pursue the matter further at Queen’s Park, Hsu said he had not yet considered additional legislative action, though he suggested some form of legal protection for physicians acting during emergencies could merit consideration.
“Something like ‘Good Samaritan’ legislation would probably require the resources of the ministry to check all the ramifications, which I don’t have access to,” Hsu said. “I don’t get the sense the Minister of Health thinks it is needed.”
Despite requests for comment from Kingstonist, neither the Ontario Ministry of Health nor Premier Doug Ford has responded to questions regarding the Court of Appeal decision or criticisms of the province’s continued handling of the matter.
The case is now expected to return to HSARB for reconsideration in light of the Divisional Court’s findings.
