Alberta premier and health minister to address health authority allegations

Premier Danielle Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange will speak to reporters in Calgary Wednesday to address steps the province will take in response to allegations levelled by the former CEO of Alberta Health Services (AHS). The news conference is now scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m. MT.

After allegations about contracting and conflicts of interest became public two weeks ago, Smith told reporters in Washington that she has seen no evidence of wrongdoing at the provincial health authority and that she supports an investigation by Alberta's auditor general into how contracts are procured and awarded by AHS.

Former Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos detailed her allegations in a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed against LaGrange and AHS in Edmonton court last week.

Mentzelopoulos's statement of claim alleges the government fired her one year into a four-year contract in part because she'd "authorized an internal investigation and forensic audit into various AHS contracts and AHS procurement processes, including contracts with private health-care providers and suppliers."

Her statement of claim also goes on to say she had supported assessing "contracts with several private surgical facilities whose principles were connected to various government officials."

In the statement of claim, Mentzelopoulos also alleged government officials pressured her to extend contracts with Edmonton-based Alberta Surgical Group, and to sign new private surgery contracts with proponents in Red Deer and Lethbridge.

After LaGrange issued a directive on Oct. 18, 2024, ordering the government to take over contract negotiation with chartered surgical facilities, Mentzelopoulos alleged the proposed new rates were pricer than in comparable contracts "and would lead to significantly increased costs to AHS — and potentially hundreds of millions in profits for the [facilities] owners," the lawsuit says.

Mentzelopoulos said she also expanded AHS investigations to look at AHS's procurement with medical supply company MHCare. The company, owned by Sam Mraiche, secured a $70-million contract in late 2022 to import five million bottles of children's painkillers from Turkey during a national drug shortage.

Most of the product AHS paid for has never come to Canada or been distributed to pharmacies or hospitals.

The province and AHS have a 20-day window to file statements of defence. None of Mentzelopoulos's allegations have been proven in court.

LaGrange's spokesperson Jessi Rampton has previously said Mentzelopoulos's departure was part of a planned reconfiguration of the province's health-care system. "The changes had nothing to do with the ongoing investigations into chartered surgical facility procurement by AHS," she said in a statement.

Lawyers representing MHCare have said the lawsuit between Mentzelopoulos and AHS is a private dispute between two litigants that is currently before the courts.

A  Feb. 7 statement from Alberta Surgical Group said leaders were shocked and dismayed by the allegations, adding the claims are false.