Ousted Alberta Health Services boss warned of private surgery prices, documents show
CBC
The former head of Alberta Health Services Athana Mentzelopoulos tried to caution the government about the potential impact of chartered surgical facilities on the provincial health-care system months before she was fired, CBC has learned.
Mentzelopoulos earlier this month filed a $1.7 million wrongful dismissal suit alleging she faced government pressure to sign off on commitments for new chartered surgical facilities (CSFs).
One of those was an approval of a contract extension for one vendor, Alberta Surgical Group (ASG), despite concerns she had that the costs were high compared to other contractors.
In a draft letter obtained by CBC News and referenced in her statement of claim, Mentzelopoulos wrote that "AHS remains committed to supporting CSFs and their role in the health system and recognizes the value that they bring including additional surgical capacity and improved access for scheduled surgeries."
But she also noted there are challenges as well.
She said that in addition to chartered surgical facilities costing more than the public system, there was concern they could siphon off critical staff from hospitals.
"These disruptions will have negative consequences for patients and communities, limiting timely access to emergent, urgent and medically complex surgeries such as cancer, general surgery, orthopedic and vascular surgery," she wrote.
The Oct. 1 letter was emailed to Darren Hedley, who at the time was associate deputy minister of health.
The letter was addressed to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange but Mentzelopoulos, in her email, suggested that it should be sent to then-deputy health minister Andre Tremblay. CBC News has not verified whether LaGrange or Tremblay viewed the letter.
Mentzelopoulos wrote that "[chartered surgical facilities] continue to demand higher pricing than the equivalent comparable cost within AHS and with other surgical providers."
She added health-care staff may choose to work in those private facilities over the public system because they can offer higher incomes, more flexible schedules and fewer on-call requirements.
A limited workforce and budget will increase the chances of "acute care service disruptions" across the province, she wrote.
Mentzelopoulos made several recommendations, such as ensuring chartered facility pricing "not exceed the validated AHS internal costs" and that funds "not be provided for services that do not occur."
On Oct. 18, weeks after the letter was shared with Hedley, LaGrange issued a directive ordering the provincial government to take over contract negotiations with chartered facilities.
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