Alberta health minister files defence statement, says ex-AHS CEO was incompetent

Alberta’s health minister has officially fired back against allegations from a former health leader who says she was fired for investigating sweetheart deals, collusion and high-level political arm-twisting.

Adriana LaGrange, in a statement of defence, says Athana Mentzelopoulos was not fired from her job as the head of Alberta Health Services (AHS) for investigating corruption.

LaGrange says Mentzelopoulos was fired because she was failing to do her job and was working to stop mandated health reform to keep the power and perks of her position.

   Statement of defence from the Government of Alberta

AHS has been in charge of all health delivery in Alberta but has, in the last year, been wound down to become just one piece of a new multi-agency model.

Mentzelopoulos has alleged she was fired because she balked at signing overinflated contracts with private surgery providers and for investigating questionable dealings with how health contracts were being signed.

The former AHS CEO is suing the province for wrongful dismissal.

LaGrange says her government had no choice but to act, saying Mentzelopoulos had lost her way by failing to sign off on critical surgery contracts potentially affecting thousands while pursuing a fantasy corruption investigation that ultimately turned up empty.

Premier Danielle Smith and LaGrange have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, with Smith suggesting if there was any issues involving more than $600 million in health contracts, it was on the part of AHS.

The RCMP announced last week they launched an investigation after receiving a complaint regarding AHS. No further details have been provided, but the investigation follows the allegations of corruption in multi-million dollar health deals.

Alberta’s auditor general and Smith’s government have launched their own probes into the contracts. The province selected a former Manitoba judge to be the third-party who will review irregularities.

NDP leader Naheed Nenshi previously called for an RCMP investigation and for all parties named in the allegations, including Smith and LaGrange, to step aside during the probes.