Fired Alberta health care CEO claims 'malicious and bad faith allegations' by health minister
CBC
In an 11-page court document filed Thursday, the former CEO of Alberta Health Services alleges the province's health minister and AHS have crafted a narrative about her that is "completely unfounded, entirely fictitious, malicious" and replete with "bad faith allegations."
Athana Mentzelopoulos was responding to statements of defence from the provincial health agency and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange last week, which both alleged Mentzelopoulos was terminated due to her job performance.
Mentzelopoulos had previously filed a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit against AHS and the province in February, in which she claimed she had been fired after launching an investigation into various contracts with links to government officials.
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The allegations have not been tested in court.
In response to a request for comment on the allegations contained in Mentzelopoulos's Thursday document, a spokesperson for LaGrange wrote that the province had "filed a thorough and complete statement of defence related to the AHS matter, in which our position is very clear."
"As previously stated, we welcome the auditor general's review and the independent third-party investigation led by the Honourable Raymond E. Wyant, and we look forward to the results," the statement reads.
"Until these reviews are completed, we will not be commenting further on these matters."
In Mentzelopoulos's "reply to statements of defence," filed March 20, the former CEO claims the statements of defence are "filled with completely unfounded, entirely fictitious, malicious and bad faith allegations about Mentzelopoulos and her performance while CEO and president of AHS" that she alleges are intended to deflect from the substance of the allegations in the statement of claim.
Thursday's document also rejects several of the allegations made in the statements of defence. In its court filing, AHS said Mentzelopoulos had displayed an "alarming lack of strategic vision" and had lost the confidence of AHS.
Mentzelopoulos said the AHS board of directors had confidence in her throughout her work at AHS and "did not lose confidence in her at any time."
She added that the board never expressed any concerns to her about her performance, or "about her work in guiding AHS through the (often underfunded and poorly articulated) health care 'refocusing' that was being directed by Alberta Health."
She went on to reference a Dec. 2, 2024, meeting with LaGrange to discuss the ongoing changes at AHS.
Mentzelopoulos alleges that at this meeting, LaGrange told her that she was happy with the work she had been doing and allegedly said, "I think you've done some phenomenal things in Alberta Health Services, like honestly I really do."
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