Doctor operating safer supply clinics billed OHIP $2.5M last year

A doctor running a network of addiction clinics across Ontario, including an Ottawa location that offers safer opioid supply, is billing public insurance about $2.5 million per year.

Dr. Suman Koka is the sole officer and director of Northwood Recovery, which has locations in North York, Hamilton and Manitoulin Island. It operates under the name Recovery North in Sudbury, Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie.

Northwood Recovery opened its first Ottawa location in Hintonburg last year, but quietly moved it to Chinatown this March.

Neighbours in both Hintonburg and Chinatown have criticized Koka for prescribing opioid medications to fentanyl users. They say his patients are trading the prescription drugs on the street to get harder substances, attracting dealers and crime to the area.

City councillors representing both neighbourhoods have urged Northwood Recovery to change its operations or shut down.

In an interview last month, Koka confirmed that the Ottawa clinic offers safer supply, a harm reduction approach intended to help users replace street drugs like fentanyl with safer prescription narcotics.

Among other treatments, Koka prescribes hydromorphone, which is also known by the trade name Dilaudid. He confirmed that he primarily meets with patients at the Ottawa clinic remotely through telemedicine.

CBC submitted a freedom of information request to the Ontario Ministry of Health seeking records of Koka's total billing to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). It reveals that he billed just over $2.3 million in 2023 and nearly $2.5 million in 2024.

Those totals do not represent Koka's profit or take-home pay, since at least some of the money would be used to cover overhead costs at his clinics, which could include rent, supplies and administrative staff.

But the totals are far in excess of typical billing. The average gross clinical payment for Ontario physicians was $388,557 in 2022-23, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Payments for the top quintile — the top 20 per cent of physicians by billing — were $568,432 on average.

CBC also submitted a request for Koka's billing for telemedicine specifically. He billed $524,302 for virtual care services in 2024, including video and telephone consultations.

The figures were current as of January 22 of this year. The documents include a note that physicians still have a three-month period to submit additional claims for processing.

Koka had previously appeared on a Toronto Star database of highly paid doctors published in 2019. According to the Sudbury Star, which cited the Toronto Star's reporting, Koka billed $1.5 million in 2018-19, putting him in the top one per cent of doctors ranked by OHIP billing.

Koka did not respond to a request this week with detailed questions about his 2023 and 2024 billing. He did not explain how he is able to personally see enough patients to bill millions of dollars per year, or whether he is delegating some of the care.