Alberta surgical company’s fees double public costs, according to AHS documents
Global News
Former AHS head alleges premier’s then-chief of staff, Marshall Smith, repeatedly put pressure on her to sign deals with the Alberta Surgical Group, despite concerns about costss.
A private surgical company at the heart of allegations the Alberta government interfered to secure overpriced medical contracts was billing taxpayers more than twice as much per procedure than it would cost in a public hospital, according to Alberta Health Services documents.
An internal chart included in an email sent by the former head of Alberta Health Services to a Health Ministry bureaucrat, obtained by The Canadian Press, indicates estimates for hip replacements in Edmonton at the public health agency’s hospitals was just over $4,000 as of last fall.
The chart says the firm Alberta Surgical Group was charging the government $8,300.
The cost listed for another private competitor was just over $3,600.
Rose Carter, a lawyer for the company, said its contract prohibits it from discussing details, so “ASG is unable to publicly defend itself.”
She pointed to numbers from a 2021-22 Canadian Institute for Health Information report listing the average cost for a hip replacement in Alberta at $10,700.
The AHS chart notes that its pricing does not include costs covered by the agency, including implant devices, diagnostic imaging and clinical lab services.
In a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed last week, former AHS head Athana Mentzelopoulos alleges the premier’s then-chief of staff, Marshall Smith, repeatedly put pressure on her to sign deals with the Alberta Surgical Group, despite concerns about costs and who was benefiting.
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