Latest news with #AthanaMentzelopoulos
Edmonton Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
MHCare renews calls for government to release AHS procurement investigation
Edmonton-based MHCare Medical Corporation renewed its call this week for the government to release an external audit report initiated by the since-fired head of Alberta Health Services (AHS) that it believes could exonerate the company and its CEO Sam Mraiche. Article content In a news release, MHCare says its lawyers have new questions about the audit which it claims was provided to former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos before she was fired in early January. Article content Article content Article content The following month, Mentzelopoulos launched a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit, claiming she was fired after she investigated health procurement practices and contracts for private surgical facilities. Article content Article content Her lawsuit does not list MHCare as defendant, though it is mentioned in her statement of claim, with the company claiming those those references have resulted in ongoing reputable harm for itself and Mraiche. Article content MHCare's lawyers released copies of correspondence with a government of Alberta lawyer where they repeat their request for the audit to be released, saying it could help clear the company's name or lead it to pursue future litigation. Article content 'This information in particular is important for our client to obtain as they expect evidence and information to be available that will support a lawsuit against other currently unknown third parties, or will support our client's defence to any potential lawsuits against them,' the July 10 letter reads. Article content Article content It poses six questions to the government's lawyer, asking why a Toronto-led law firm and private investigator were chosen to lead the audit as well as additional queries around the cost and mandate of that audit. Article content It adds that details from the audit could be used by MHCare staff in potential questioning as part of ongoing investigations by the auditor general and the province's own inquiry led by retired Manitoba chief judge Raymond Wyant. Article content Wyant's was scheduled to report back this past spring but his initial report is now due Sept. 24 ahead of the final report on Oct. 15. The RCMP is also investigating. Article content On July 16, the government lawyer replied to MHCare's letter, saying the report could not be released as it was subject to legal privilege. Article content 'I am not in a position to respond to the various questions in your letter as they involve specific matters relating to the litigation and are subject to various privileges as well as the deemed undertaking under the rules,' the correspondence released by MHCare reads.
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
MHCare renews calls for government to release AHS procurement investigation
Edmonton-based MHCare Medical Corporation renewed its call this week for the government to release an external audit report initiated by the since-fired head of Alberta Health Services (AHS) that it believes could exonerate the company and its CEO Sam Mraiche. Article content In a news release, MHCare says its lawyers have new questions about the audit which it claims was provided to former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos before she was fired in early January. Article content Article content Article content The following month, Mentzelopoulos launched a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit, claiming she was fired after she investigated health procurement practices and contracts for private surgical facilities. Article content Article content Her lawsuit does not list MHCare as defendant, though it is mentioned in her statement of claim, with the company claiming those those references have resulted in ongoing reputable harm for itself and Mraiche. Article content MHCare's lawyers released copies of correspondence with a government of Alberta lawyer where they repeat their request for the audit to be released, saying it could help clear the company's name or lead it to pursue future litigation. Article content 'This information in particular is important for our client to obtain as they expect evidence and information to be available that will support a lawsuit against other currently unknown third parties, or will support our client's defence to any potential lawsuits against them,' the July 10 letter reads. Article content Article content It poses six questions to the government's lawyer, asking why a Toronto-led law firm and private investigator were chosen to lead the audit as well as additional queries around the cost and mandate of that audit. Article content It adds that details from the audit could be used by MHCare staff in potential questioning as part of ongoing investigations by the auditor general and the province's own inquiry led by retired Manitoba chief judge Raymond Wyant. Article content Wyant's was scheduled to report back this past spring but his initial report is now due Sept. 24 ahead of the final report on Oct. 15. The RCMP is also investigating. Article content On July 16, the government lawyer replied to MHCare's letter, saying the report could not be released as it was subject to legal privilege. Article content 'I am not in a position to respond to the various questions in your letter as they involve specific matters relating to the litigation and are subject to various privileges as well as the deemed undertaking under the rules,' the correspondence released by MHCare reads.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Former AHS CEO denies defamation claims from Alberta premier's ex-chief of staff
Former Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos is denying defamation allegations from a previous chief of staff to Alberta's premier. Marshall Smith, who left his position as Premier Danielle Smith's top aide in October 2024, filed a lawsuit against Mentzelopoulos in the wake of her own wrongful dismissal lawsuit against AHS and the provincial government. While they have the same last name, Marshall Smith and the premier are not related. Smith alleged Mentzelopoulos made false and defamatory statements about him in court documents filed as part of her wrongful dismissal suit. His statement of claim also names the Globe and Mail newspaper, its Calgary reporter Carrie Tait, and an unnamed man who is believed to be a former board member for the health authority. He is seeking $12 million in damages. In a statement of defence filed in Court of King's Bench of Alberta last week, Mentzelopoulos said she hasn't defamed Smith, nor has he suffered damages as a result. The legal filing calls Smith's allegations "invented attempts to allege harm." It also says his lawsuit appears to try to "distance Smith himself from certain members of the private sector and to downplay the nature of his role in the history of events appropriately recounted by Ms. Mentzelopoulos in her action against the Crown and AHS." The statement of defence also says Mentzelopoulos's statements are shielded from defamation action because they were made in the course of judicial proceedings. None of the allegations in Mentzelopoulos's original lawsuit, or in the subsequent statement of claim and defence related to the Smith lawsuit, have been proven in court. Mentzelopoulos claims she was fired because she'd launched an investigation and forensic audit into various contracts and was reassessing deals she had concluded were overpriced with private surgical companies she said had links to government officials. AHS and Adriana LaGrange — the former minister of health who is now the new minister of primary and preventative health services — have denied Mentzelopoulos's claims in statements of defence that allege she was fired due to her job performance. The province has appointed a former chief judge from Manitoba to conduct a third-party investigation into procurement. The auditor general and Alberta RCMP are also investigating the matter.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Alberta reaches agreement to donate unused children's pain and fever medication
A bottle of Parol Suspension, produced by Turkish Atabay Pharmaceuticals, is shown on Monday, March 20, 2023 (CTV News Edmonton/Brandon Lynch). Alberta Health Services says it has reached an agreement to donate the unused supply of imported children's pain and fever medication to Health International Partners of Canada. In an email to CTV News Edmonton, spokesperson Kristi Bland said the charity would distribute the medicine among vulnerable communities worldwide. 'Preliminary shipments of products have started to leave Alberta, and additional shipments will happen in the coming months,' Bland wrote. 'We are unable to provide information about when the medicine would arrive in the destination countries, given this would be under the responsibility of the partner organization handling the logistics and may vary depending on the destination country.' The province has been sitting on 1.4 million bottles of the medication after health officials determined in 2023 that it posed serious health risks when given to babies. Alberta paid $70 million to MHCare Medical in 2022 for the medication when children's pain medication was in short supply countrywide. Only about 30 per cent of the medication ever arrived in Alberta, and the company that provided it is now embroiled in a provincial procurement scandal. Fired AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos alleges in a lawsuit that there was favouritism in contracting. Both MHCare and its founder, Sam Mraiche, were named in the suit. With files from CTV News Calgary's Timm Bruch and The Canadian Press
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Alberta company at the centre of corruption allegations calls for release of audit
Aerial shot of the Alberta legislature on Monday, May 26, 2025. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton) An Alberta company swept up in allegations of government corruption says it's being further harmed by the suppression of a report it believes will exonerate them. Medical supply company MHCare Medical is calling on the province's front-line health provider to release an audit into health contracts commissioned by its former chief executive officer. MHCare believes the audit from former Alberta Health Services head Athana Mentzelopoulos may provide concrete proof allegations against its CEO are baseless. Mentzelopoulos is suing Premier Danielle Smith's government for wrongful dismissal, claiming she was fired for looking into questionable, overpriced contracts. MHCare is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but contracts it had with AHS were part of the examination by a law firm that is referenced in court documents. The province has denied any wrongdoing, arguing in court documents that Mentzelopoulos was fired for poor job performance and for dragging her feet on health-care reforms. The contracts are the focus of three investigations, and MHCare says the repeated delays are unfair as the allegations tarnish their reputation and leave CEO Sam Mraiche with no chance to clear his name. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025. Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
