WINNIPEG — The trial in the case of an elderly Orthodox Jewish man whom doctors have wanted to remove from life support since last fall is being moved forward at the request of the hospital where he is being treated.

Chief Justice Marc Monnin of the Court of Queen’s Bench has granted a motion by Grace Hospital to move the trial in the case of Sam Golubchuk, 84, ahead to Sept. 15 from Nov. 24 – which would have been almost one year after his family initially obtained an injunction against removing Golubchuk from life support.

The hospital had asked the court for an earlier trial because one of its intensive care specialists, Dr. Anand Kumar, quit rather than continue to treat Golubchuk.

The hospital must treat him in accordance with a second court order issued last February that prevents doctors from removing his life support against his family’s wishes and religious beliefs. His family is seeking a permanent injunction to keep him on life support.

In an affidavit, Kumar said he withdrew his services because it is “in violation of my medical ethics to continue [treating Golubchuk].” He also said he believes that the “services administered in accordance with the order are not of any medical benefit” and that “continued support of the patient is tantamount to torture.”

Dr. Elizabeth Cowden, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said in an affidavit that if other physicians withdraw services as Kumar has done, the facility’s intensive care unit “may be forced to close.”

Earlier this month, the hospital’s lawyers said in court that Golubchuk is “barely above a vegetative state,” and that nurses are also experiencing a great deal of stress in providing care that they believe is harmful to a patient’s dignity.

In granting the hospital’s motion for an earlier trial date, Monnin said that Golubchuk’s “prognosis is not good… The medical evidence is strong that it is highly unlikely that he will ever be able to leave the ICU.”

The lawyer for Golubchuk’s family, Neil Kravetsky, has argued before Monnin that he is a sole practitioner who has another trial scheduled in September that would conflict with setting an earlier trial date in this case. Additionally, Kravetsky argued that although Kumar has quit, five intensive care specialists at the hospital are still prepared to treat Golubchuk. He also said that the complex case will involve bringing in out-of-town medical experts, and that he can’t properly prepare for a trial on the earlier date.

In ordering that the trial date be moved, Monnin said that the “obvious solution to me would be for plaintiff’s counsel [Kravetsky] to have the other trial [that he has scheduled in September] adjourned to the November dates which were previously set for this trial. Of course, this could only be done after obtaining the approval of his client and co-operation from opposing counsel or motions to adjourn if necessary. The court would be ready to assist in making those arrangements if counsel wish to do so.”

Monnin ordered that the trial take place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 10, noting that the court would not “sit on those days which are viewed as religious holidays.” The judge said the trial ought to be expedited “in the interests of justice.”

Kravetsky said that Monnin’s decision “is a terrible one. The family is an Orthodox Jewish family, and all of the witnesses we will be calling are Orthodox Jews. The medical evidence we will adduce is going to come from doctors who are out of town. It is going to be difficult for me to get Orthodox Jewish doctors to travel to Winnipeg, when it is around the time of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.”

Kravetsky said he may appeal the ruling.