Sask. health minister asks regulatory bodies to investigate controversial facility after CBC report

He made those comments after face of the earth questioned by the provincial NDP nigh that story in the general assembly. 

That readiness, the Dr. Goodenowe Restorative wellness Center, has claimed it has a 100 per cent success rate in halting and reversing the progress of ALS — a degenerative disease that causes gradual muscle loss. The centre is run by Dayan Goodenowe, who is not a medical doctor. 

In a letter sent Tuesday to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, deputy minister of health Tracey Smith wrote, “The ministry is concerned about this individual and private business engaging in what appears to be the unauthorized practice of medicine.” 

“The ministry is very concerned about the harm this may be causing patients and others in Saskatchewan,” Smith wrote.  

As a result, the ministry wants the college to “take all appropriate steps, including opening a formal investigation into the centre.” 

During her stay last fall, her health deteriorated. She ended up being forced to flee the province in a rented ambulance, with borrowed medical equipment, so she could get life-saving surgery in the United States that her insurance company wouldn’t pay for in Canada. 

Silvestri died alone in a Montana hospital on Dec. 26, 2024, just four months after paying the Goodenowe centre $84,000 USD. 

The health minister has asked the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan to probe concerns about the Goodenowe centre. It is a treasury crown corporation responsible for protecting consumers in the province.  

“Given the fact that dollars changed hands and concern that the services being offered I guess by this private business may not have been accurate to the way that they were represented to the customer, we’ll also be directing the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority to take a look at this specific situation and this specific business,” Cockrill told the media in the legislature Monday.  

He said that “on the website for Mr. Goodenowe’s business there is a disclaimer at the bottom that talks about a focus on research and other services rather than treating and diagnosing health care issues.” 

The brochure also says the Goodenowe centre will develop “fine-tuned individualized treatment plans” and “a personalized post-treatment plan” for clients. 

That generalized promise was specifically applied to one client with ALS, Rebecca Bader, when she and her husband Eric were looking into the Goodenowe program last year. In an email, a Goodenowe sales representative said, "To start with plasmalogens, the process generally involves a consultation to assess her specific needs and to tailor a treatment plan."  

“That’s exactly why … we’ve directed the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority to look into this,” said Cockrill. “It’s important that the goods and services that you offer to customers should be accurate and I think the FCAA has a role to play here and that’s why we’ve directed them to take a look.” 

Cockrill also is asking the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS) to look into concerns about the Goodenowe centre. 

The private facility is unregulated and operates outside of the provincial health care system. It doesn’t employ any medical professionals. 

Dayan Goodenowe has a PhD in medical sciences with a focus on psychiatry from the University of Alberta. However, he is not a medical doctor and therefore is not a member of the CPSS. 

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill wants that body to investigate the Goodenowe centre.  

In the ministry’s letter to the college, it highlights the fact that a non-doctor is not allowed to: 

Cockrill suggested that the college should look into whether Goodenowe, as a non-doctor, is violating these or any other provisions of the act. 

“It is the government’s position that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan has the powers under the medical profession act to mete out any discipline that may be required to this individual, Mr. Speaker,” said Cockrill in the legislature Monday, under questioning from the provincial NDP. “We would encourage the college to do so.” 

In making this request, the province has walked onto what appears to be contentious ground.

Earlier this year, the college said the province was misinformed. 

“I disagree that the College of Physicians and Surgeons is the agency designated to prosecute offences that the government of Saskatchewan has adopted into Saskatchewan legislation,” Bryan Salte, associate registrar and legal counsel with the college, wrote on July 21, 2025.

“There is nothing in The Medical Profession Act, 1981 that supports that view.”

Salte said, in his view, the act only empowers the college to regulate members and not to investigate alleged offences committed by non-doctors. 

The province made that commitment July 23. 

Under questioning Monday, the minister acknowledged that there is still no clarity. 

“I think we’ll still have some work to do to sort that out with the College of Physicians and Surgeons,” said Cockrill. 

In October 2024, Teresa Sando and her husband Geoff left the Goodenowe Centre believing he failed to deliver what he promised. The American couple was trying to figure out where to complain. 

They had been in the Goodenowe centre, right down the hall from Susie Silvestri.  

Geoff has ALS and he went to the facility because he was told in a sales call that, “We have a 100 per cent success rate in stopping the progression and in restoring function of people with ALS.” But, he says, his condition continued to deteriorate while in the program. 

Teresa reached out to Evan Thompson, a lawyer with the college, to raise her concerns.  

On Nov. 7, 2024, he asked for more information, writing, “I am hoping to write a memo for our Executive Committee that would need to be filed tomorrow morning, so whatever I have for information from you at that point I will make sure to include for them.” 

She wrote a nine-page summary and forwarded emails and audio files backing up her claims. 

After a bit more back and forth, the file was turned over to Bryan Salte in February 2025 for scheduling reasons. 

In a Feb. 13, 2025, email, he told Teresa, “We have retained a lawyer with a private law firm to bring an application for an injunction. An injunction is a court order that the person not practise medicine.” 

Salte then asked for additional information.  

“In order to obtain such an order, I think that we need substantial evidence of the harm that people are experiencing due to Mr. Goodenowe’s conduct. Evidence that you can provide, or that we can obtain through you is likely to be very relevant,” Salte wrote. 

Teresa said she would gather more evidence from other former Goodenowe clients. 

In her final email to the college on March 29, 2025, Teresa wrote, “I don’t know the timeline for CPSS on the Goodenowe case but if you need anything you can give me a call. We have several patients and caregivers wanting to report their experience at the [Goodenowe centre] in Moose Jaw. 

“I believe we’re up to 11 now.”

At that point, she said, the conversation petered out. She did not hear from Salte again. 

Now with the province calling on the college for an investigation, Teresa is once again wondering what happened. 

“Why not the college of physicians enforce it? They sure acted interested in having me supply them hours of information about Goodenowe and the center and then just ghosted me.” 

Senior Investigative Journalist

Geoff Leo is a Michener Award nominated investigative journalist and a Canadian Screen Award winning documentary producer and director. He has been covering Saskatchewan stories since 2001. Email Geoff at geoff.leo@cbc.ca.

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