Hospital officials in Los Angeles say they knew about Dr. Jonah Odim's past when they offered him a job. Odim has come under intense scrutiny in an inquest report that was released earlier this week.

Odim was heading a pediatric cardiac unit at the Health Sciences Centre in 1994 when 12 infants died.

Judge Murray Sinclair, in his inquest report, said Odim performed surgical procedures that may have been beyond his skill. He went on to say at least five of the deaths, possibly more, were preventable.

Odim has been working at the UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles for the past two years.

Hospital officials there say they knew Odim's program was the subject of an inquest in Winnipeg when they hired him.

David Langness says that's why Odim isn't allowed to have any direct patient responsibilities at the hospital.

"He does two things," says Langness, who speaks for the UCLA Medical Centre. "He does medical research. And he assists in our organ procurement team. That means he goes out and procures organs from organ donors, people who have donated their organs for use in medicine."

Langness says the findings of the inquest will have no impact on Odim's job in Los Angeles. He says it will be up to the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons to contact the licensing board in California if it has any concerns.

The College says it will investigate all of the doctors mentioned in the inquest report, including Dr. Jonah Odim.