Alberta health minister denies former AHS CEO's claims in statement of defence

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange is alleging the erstwhile CEO of Alberta Health Services was unwilling and incapable to instrumentality the government's program to interruption up the wellness authority,  became "infatuated" with her interior probe into backstage surgical contracts and made "incendiary and inaccurate allegations astir governmental intrigue and impropriety" earlier she was fired successful January. 

The claims are contained successful the minister's connection of defence filed Thursday successful Edmonton Court of King's Bench.

Smith has said she had nary engagement successful the contracting decisions. 

Mentzelopoulos's allegations, the authorities of defence claims, were made to deflect attraction from concerns astir her ain show and professionalism. 

The papers besides says Mentzelopoulos made her claims successful an effort to get a larger payout for being fired. 

Mentzelopoulos said she was fired successful January, days earlier she was acceptable to conscionable with Alberta's auditor wide astir surgical contracts she said had links to authorities officials.

She alleges she was terminated, successful part, due to the fact that she had launched an probe and forensic audit and was taking a 2nd look astatine the prices successful contracts involving the Alberta Surgical Group earlier extending the agreement. 

Mentzelopoulos besides widened the AHS investigations to see AHS procurement with medical proviso company MHCare. The institution won a $70 cardinal declaration successful 2022 to import children's symptom medicine from Turkey.  Most of the merchandise has not been used. 

LaGrange, successful the connection of defence, said the proposition Mentzelopoulos was fired to forestall her from speaking with the auditor wide is false. The papers states the state supports the auditor wide probe that's present underway. 

"The plaintiff was not fired by AHS due to the fact that she commenced an investigation. She was not fired arsenic portion of a conspiracy to halt an investigation," the papers states. 

"She was fired due to the fact that she failed to execute her relation arsenic president and CEO efficaciously and failed to transportation retired the mandate she was fixed to instrumentality the translation of AHS, which the premier of Alberta mandated the curate to implement. 

"The plaintiff mislaid the assurance of AHS and the minister."

In an emailed effect to CBC News, Dan Scott, lawyer for Mentzelopoulos, said the allegations successful the connection of defence are false. He said his lawsuit was terminated without cause. 

Scott said Mentzelopoulos is looking guardant to filing her reply to the connection of defence, and successful a connection issued earlier Thursday, Mentzelopoulos said she is comfortable moving rapidly to trial.

"I americium disquieted there's a strategy to effort to bring maine to my knees financially, truthful I anticipation we tin skip oral questions and proceed straight to trial," she said.

The allegations successful Mentzelopoulos's connection of assertion and LaGrange's connection of defence person not been tested successful court. 

Allegations of deliberate delays

The 23-page connection of defence alleges that arsenic CEO, Mentzelopoulos was trying to hold the government's determination to interruption AHS into 4 abstracted divisions covering acute care, continuing care, superior attraction and intelligence wellness and addictions to "protect her ain idiosyncratic authorization and status."

The papers outlines what it says is the timeline of orthopedic country services successful Edmonton, opening with a July 2021 petition for proposal. It says the Alberta Surgical Group (ASG) was not the palmy proponent.

However, the winning proponent didn't person a gathering ready, but ASG did, truthful AHS signed a two-year declaration with them. 

The costs per procedure, which Mentzelopoulos was aboriginal acrophobic were excessively high, were owed to the shorter magnitude of the contract, the papers says. 

By August 2024, the winning proponent inactive wasn't ready, truthful the state wanted to widen the declaration with ASG. The papers states that alternatively of engaging successful talks to widen the declaration past Oct. 31, Mentzelopoulos launched an probe into the presumption of the deal, including the prices she believed were retired of enactment with contracts signed with different providers. 

Preliminary results from that reappraisal by outer investigators did not uncover a crushed not to widen the ASG declaration past Oct. 31, the papers states, but Mentzelopoulos didn't stock those findings with the government.

The connection of defence alleges that Mentzelopoulos "refused to determination guardant with immoderate substantive negotiations with ASG, jeopardizing the thousands of surgeries booked." The state says that is wherefore it was forced to intervene.

Mentzelopoulos yet signed disconnected connected the hold astatine 3 p.m. the time the archetypal declaration expired, the papers states.  

Mentzelopoulos alleged successful her connection of assertion that LaGrange told her successful December to wrapper up her investigation. In response, LaGrange said the erstwhile CEO was told to transportation the probe to the province. That probe continued aft Mentzelopoulos's departure, the papers states. The assignment of retired Manitoba justice Raymond E. Wyant announced past week, is portion of that effort. 

LaGrange rejects Mentzelopoulos's assertion that the day of her termination was tied to her gathering with the auditor wide the time after. The connection of assertion says the determination to occurrence her came connected Dec. 23, but was delayed owed to the Christmas holidays. 

The papers besides denies Danielle Smith's erstwhile main of unit Marshall Smith was putting unit connected Mentzelopoulos astir extending the ASG declaration and signing off connected a surgical declaration for Red Deer. 

The connection of assertion disputes Mentzelopoulos's assertion that Marshall Smith had adjacent ties with a apical authoritative successful AHS's procurement section who besides had adjacent ties with large contractors the wellness bureau dealt with.

The state is asking that Mentzelopoulos's suit beryllium "dismissed with costs connected a solicitor and lawsuit ground successful airy of the incendiary allegations made."

Justice Minister Mickey Amery said successful a connection that since the substance is earlier the courts, the state would not beryllium providing further remark and added "we volition resolutely support against the unproven allegations raised successful this matter."