The former CEO of Alberta Health Services (AHS) has filed a $1.7-million lawsuit alleging she was wrongfully dismissed after launching an investigation and forensic audit into contracts with private surgical companies. Athana Mentzelopoulos claims she faced pressure from government officials to finalize deals, even those considered overpriced, and alleges the Health Minister demanded her firing. The lawsuit also details concerns about links between AHS officials and private contractors, including an instance where an AHS official had an email address with a company that would later sign a $70-million contract.
The former CEO of Alberta Health Services has filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against AHS and the province, claiming she was fired because she’d launched an investigation and forensic audit into various contracts and deals with private surgical companies.Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, left, along with Athana Mentzelopoulos, who was hired as president and CEO of Alberta Health Services in December of 2023. The former CEO of Alberta Health Services has filed a $1.
Athana Mentzelopoulos alleges in the claim, filed in court Wednesday, that Health Minister Adriana LaGrange met with the board on Jan. 7 and demanded the directors fire the CEO.The board refused, and Mentzelopoulos claims she was fired over Zoom the next day, by Andre Tremblay, the senior provincial health bureaucrat who would replace her as interim CEO.
The lawsuit also states that Tremblay ordered AHS staff to cancel a meeting with the auditor general about the forensic audit and internal review that Mentzelopoulos had told the provincial watchdog about. Mentzelopoulos's statement of claim tells of repeated calls, "interference and pressure" from various government officials, including Marshall Smith, then chief of staff to Premier Danielle Smith, to sign deals and extensions with private surgical facilities bidding to do publicly funded procedures, even though they "significantly increased costs" when compared to other private contractors and internal AHS costing estimates.
It also highlights concerns about links between a senior official in AHS's procurement department and major contractors the health agency deals with. Among those, the official had an email address in November 2022 with the company that would sign a $70-million contract for children's pain medication with AHS the following month.
WRONGFUL DISMISSAL INVESTIGATION FORENSIC AUDIT PRIVATE SURGICAL COMPANIES GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE
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