Fired Alberta health care CEO claims 'malicious and bad faith allegations' by health minister

Joel Dryden · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 2:17 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

In an 11-page tribunal papers filed Thursday, the erstwhile CEO of Alberta Health Services alleges the province's wellness curate and AHS person crafted a communicative astir her that is "completely unfounded, wholly fictitious, malicious" and replete with "bad religion allegations."

Athana Mentzelopoulos was responding to statements of defence from the provincial wellness bureau and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange past week, which some alleged Mentzelopoulos was terminated owed to her occupation performance. 

Mentzelopoulos had antecedently filed a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal suit against AHS and the state successful February, successful which she claimed she had been fired aft launching an probe into assorted contracts with links to authorities officials.

A erstwhile main justice from Manitoba has been appointed by the state to pb a third-party probe into procurement. Alberta RCMP and Alberta's auditor wide are besides investigating.

The allegations person not been tested successful court. 

In effect to a petition for remark connected the allegations contained successful Mentzelopoulos's Thursday document, a spokesperson for LaGrange wrote that the state had "filed a thorough and implicit connection of defence related to the AHS matter, successful which our presumption is precise clear."

"As antecedently stated, we invited the auditor general's reappraisal and the autarkic third-party probe led by the Honourable Raymond E. Wyant, and we look guardant to the results," the connection reads.

"Until these reviews are completed, we volition not beryllium commenting further connected these matters."

AHS confidence successful Mentzelopoulos

In Mentzelopoulos's "reply to statements of defence," filed March 20, the erstwhile CEO claims the statements of defence are "filled with wholly unfounded, wholly fictitious, malicious and atrocious religion allegations astir Mentzelopoulos and her show portion CEO and president of AHS" that she alleges are intended to deflect from the substance of the allegations successful the connection of claim.

Thursday's papers besides rejects respective of the allegations made successful the statements of defence. In its tribunal filing, AHS said Mentzelopoulos had displayed an "alarming deficiency of strategical vision" and had mislaid the assurance of AHS.

Mentzelopoulos said the AHS committee of directors had assurance successful her passim her enactment astatine AHS and "did not suffer assurance successful her astatine immoderate time." 

She added that the committee ne'er expressed immoderate concerns to her astir her performance, oregon "about her enactment successful guiding AHS done the (often underfunded and poorly articulated) wellness attraction 'refocusing' that was being directed by Alberta Health."

She went connected to notation a Dec. 2, 2024, gathering with LaGrange to sermon the ongoing changes astatine AHS. 

Mentzelopoulos alleges that astatine this meeting, LaGrange told her that she was blessed with the enactment she had been doing and allegedly said, "I deliberation you've done immoderate phenomenal things successful Alberta Health Services, similar honestly I truly do." 

Just implicit 1 period later, connected Jan. 7, 2025, LaGrange was demanding the committee occurrence Mentzelopoulos, she alleges.

'Infatuated' with investigation

LaGrange's connection of defence alleged that Mentzelopoulos became "infatuated" with her interior investigations. In rejecting that claim, Mentzelopoulos alleges that the AHS committee recommended the probe and outer audit beryllium expanded aft being advised of their goals.

"Presumably the AHS committee members were besides 'infatuated' with the investigations arsenic LaGrange bizarrely alleges against Mentzelopoulos successful her connection of defence," the papers reads.

Mentzelopoulos besides alleges that 3 lawman ministers attended a Dec. 19, 2024, AHS committee meeting, successful their dual capacities arsenic lawman ministers and besides arsenic AHS committee members. At that meeting, they "heard the proposal by different AHS committee members that the probe perchance beryllium expanded and the substance beryllium forwarded to the RCMP for imaginable transgression investigation."

On Dec. 20, 2024, AHS sent a missive to MHCare Medical, Mentzelopoulos alleges. In 2022, MHCare secured a $70-million declaration for children's symptom medicine from Turkey amid a nationwide cause shortage.

The missive demanded "a 'full accounting and reconciliation of the prepayments AHS made to MHCare' for the $70 cardinal that was someway prepaid by AHS to MHCare for the inactive unfilled proviso of children's acetaminophen." A lawyer for MHCare did not instantly respond for remark connected Friday.

The adjacent concern day, connected Dec. 23, 2024, Mentzelopoulos alleges she received a missive from Chris Nickerson, the adjunct lawman curate of health. It "instructed Mentzelopoulos to upwind up the interior probe successful CSFs and transportation each related files to Alberta Health," she claims.

She alleges it specifically directed that "AHS shall cease immoderate owed diligence underway with respect to the CSF procurements oregon immoderate selected proponents unless and until further notified."

Investigation claims

Mentzelopoulos goes connected to allege that she spoke to Evan Romanow, the lawman curate of intelligence wellness and addictions, connected Jan. 2, 2025. 

"Romanow said the curate of intelligence wellness and addictions, Dan Williams, was 'very concerned' astir the AHS interior investigations and the forensic audit," the papers claims. 

Romanow said that Williams was "concerned that the probe could pb to imaginable connections betwixt assorted authorities officials and Sam Mraiche and MHCare Medical astir AHS procurement issues."

At a property league Friday morning, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the authorities would beryllium issuing a nationalist connection responding to Mentzelopoulos's allegations concerning Williams aboriginal successful the day.

Later successful the March 20 document, Mentzelopoulos responded to an allegation from LaGrange's connection of defence that Mentzelopoulos was upset implicit plans to trim the size of AHS, due to the fact that it would "reduce the size of the enactment the plaintiff would preside over."

"Almost immediately, the plaintiff began expressing idiosyncratic interest astir being seen arsenic a 'transitional' CEO if steps were taken to betterment the absorption and operation of AHS arsenic planned by the province," LaGrange's connection of defence reads.

In her reply to that statement, Mentzelopoulos alleges she was "specifically told successful November 2023 by lawman curate of wellness [Andre] Tremblay and ADM [Darren] Hedley that the volition was for Mentzelopoulos to initially presume the relation of president and CEO of AHS, and past beryllium transitioned implicit to what became Acute Care Alberta."

"She was besides assured and promised a four-year word of employment if she near her employment astatine the Alberta Medical Association," the papers states.