Latest news with #Vitalité
CBC
21 hours ago
- Health
- CBC
Vitalité files counterclaims to travel nurse contract lawsuits by Canadian Health Labs
Vitalité Health Network has filed counterclaims to the three lawsuits launched by Canadian Health Labs, alleging the travel nurse agency has "seriously compromised its ability to provide safe, effective and continuous health care." In documents filed with the Court of King's Bench in Saint John earlier this week, the regional health authority cites the Ontario-based company's alleged failure to fulfil "several" contractual obligations. These failures include deploying staff who don't have the training Vitalité requires, "including workers under unknown designations or as personal support workers" when the contract provided only for the use of licensed practical nurses and registered nurses, and not respecting the average number of daily teams required, according to the French documents. "Repeated and systemic failures" by Canadian Health Labs, or CHL, have also resulted in "considerable" financial losses, Vitalité claims, "constituting an abusive use of public funds." Among other things, it alleges CHL billed for services not rendered; incorrectly charged for HST; and overcharged for accommodation fees, travel expenses, vehicle rentals and daily allowances. In addition, Vitalité contends CHL failed to disclose a conflict of interest. No details are provided in the documents. Vitalité is seeking damages for breach of contract, punitive or aggravated damages, interest, costs and any other relief the court deems just. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Canadian Health Labs did not respond to a request for comment. CHL lawsuits allege breaches of contracts The company filed its first lawsuit against Vitalité in March, after the regional health authority cancelled the remaining shifts of travel nurses employed by CHL, even though its contract wasn't set to expire until February 2026. It alleged breaches of contract, including non-payments, and damages, including "irreparable" harm to its reputation. CHL subsequently filed two more lawsuits related to two contracts that expired last year. It alleged, among other things, that Vitalité deployed fewer "human health resource professionals" than stipulated in the contracts. Last week, the legislature adopted a law designed to get out of the contracts without facing any legal or financial penalties. "It's as tight as we can make it," Health Minister Dr. John Dornan recently told the legislature's standing committee on economic policy. "It does not absolutely preclude these current actions or subsequent actions," he said, but he believes any actions are "less likely to be successful." Contracts include termination clause, Vitalité says According to the counterclaims filed by Vitalité, its contracts with CHL state a party may terminate the agreement if the other party fails to meet its obligations, subject to prior notice. "On or about June 30, 2023, the network issued a letter of non-compliance to CHL describing their contractual breaches. "These shortcomings were never corrected by CHL and led the network to carry out an … audit of all invoices for the contract," which is still in effect. Auditor General Paul Martin lost his legal bid to get Vitalité to turn over its audits. He sought a court order to compel the regional health authority to disclose the documents as part of his investigation last year into the management and use of private agency nurses by Vitalité, Horizon and the Department of Social Development, dating back to 2022. Vitalité refused to provide the audit reports, saying they were commissioned in anticipation of litigation with CHL, and therefore protected by both litigation and solicitor-client privilege. Martin argued the Auditor General Act says his office is entitled to "free access" to all documents, whether they're confidential or not. Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Tracey DeWare dismissed Martin's application in a written decision June 2, saying the law doesn't explicitly state the auditor general is entitled to "privileged" documents. Martin is "assessing next steps," according to a statement from his office. He previously said the "risks that [Vitalité] identified in the audit reports and to what extent those risks were addressed" remain unknown. In a scathing report last June, Martin concluded "a lack of clearly defined vendor selection processes, poor contract oversight and deficiencies in payment review processes" with travel nurse contracts "resulted in undue risk to the province." He found Vitalité spent $123 million in travel-nurse contracts, including more than $98 million on the three contracts with CHL.
CBC
10-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Travel nurse company launches lawsuit against Vitalité
A travel nurse company is suing Vitalité Health Network over alleged breaches of contract, including non-payments, as well as anticipatory breach of contract. Canadian Health Labs filed its lawsuit with the Court of King's Bench in Saint John on March 21 — two days after the provincial government introduced legislation to get out of the contract with the Toronto-based company and avoid facing legal or financial penalties. That legislation has not yet been passed. Vitalité cancelled the remaining shifts of travel nurses employed by Canadian Health Labs (CHL) on Jan. 30, even though its controversial contract with the private staffing agency wasn't set to expire until next year. In its statement of claim, Canadian Health Labs alleges it has suffered loss and damages, and will continue to suffer "irreparable" harm to its reputation. It is seeking damages in a number of areas, including for alleged unpaid invoices, for breach of the duty of good faith, for "unjust enrichment," and for "intentional interference with economic relations," as well as costs. The claim is also asking for pre-judgment interest at a rate of seven per cent. WATCH | Premier Holt says she's 'quite confident' in proposed legislation to get N.B. out of contract: New Brunswick wanted to avoid getting sued over travel nurses — but lawsuit now filed 4 hours ago Duration 1:45 In addition, the company is seeking a declaration that its contract is valid and legally binding, and a permanent injunction to prevent Vitalité from soliciting the company's nurses to work directly for the regional health network instead of another travel nurse company it deals with. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Vitalité has not yet filed a response. In an emailed statement Thursday, an unidentified spokesperson for the regional health network said it not been served "with any statement of claim or other originating process before the Court of King's Bench. "We recommend that you contact CHL. We are not in a position to speak to their legal actions or intentions." Canadian Health Labs declined to comment through spokesperson Tom Vernon. No plan for public inquiry The Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment but Premier Susan Holt addressed the lawsuit during her weekly update on U.S. tariffs in Fredericton on Thursday. She called the timing of the lawsuit "interesting" and vowed to fight to defend New Brunswickers against what she called "a bad contract." " I feel quite confident in the legislation that we've put forward. I think it's strong and it will do what we need it to do," she said. "I think our case against CHL is strong. In the face of a bad contract, I don't know how they can defend it, but we're putting the mechanisms in place to protect New Brunswickers." Although the Liberals called for a public inquiry into the travel nurse contracts while in Opposition, Holt said her government has no plans for one "at this point," but they do plan to get to the bottom of how this contract happened. Vitalité's three contracts with the company, which covered from July 2022 to February 2026, totalled $98 million, according to Auditor General Martin. The company charged about $300 an hour per nurse — roughly six times what a local staff nurse earns. While the health system was facing dire staffing shortages in 2022 when the authority signed its first contract with Canadian Health Labs, the deployment of travel nurses in Vitalité's hospitals "did not correlate with staff absences due to COVID-19," Martin found in June. "The contracts with private nursing agencies were not reflective of best practices and did not demonstrate value for money," he said. Terms of the contract According to the statement of claim, the parties entered a contract on Dec. 2, 2022, where the company would supply Vitalité with human health resources to "fill critical staffing gaps" in its hospitals. The contract was slated to end on Feb. 5, 2026, "subject to rights of extension or early termination set out in the contract," the document states. Under the contract, the company was to deploy human health resources in teams, with each team consisting of an agreed upon ratio of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and administrative and management staff. The contract required Vitalité to meet certain deployment levels measured in "team days" — a certain number of hours being worked by the collective team per day. Generally, Vitalité was to compensate the company by way of a fixed fee per team day. Vitalité was also responsible for paying Canadian Health Labs' expenses, including travel and boarding costs for the workers, according to the statement of claim. 'Numerous breaches' The company alleges Vitalité committed "numerous breaches." These include that Vitalité has not paid agreed amounts for services, stopped using CHL nurses before the contract expired, and encouraged nurses to leave the company. Vitalité "repeatedly failed" to meet the payment terms and timelines under the contract, according to the court document. "Several invoices" remain unpaid our partially unpaid, it says. "The failure of Vitalité to pay the outstanding amounts constitutes a breach of the terms of the contract, is evidence of bad faith in commercial dealings by Vitalité and results in an unjust enrichment to Vitalité," the company claims. Canadian Health labs also alleges Vitalité underpaid for some services. The company, "in a good faith effort to help resolve some of the issues between the parties regarding its other contractual relationships … temporarily agreed to transfer certain Teams deployed by Vitalité under another contract between the parties to be used under this contract." No details about the other contracts are provided, but the transferred teams had a higher proportion of registered nurses to licensed practical nurses and cost more, yet Vitalité "refused or failed" to compensate the company for the higher-cost teams or correct the ratios. The company contends Vitalité stopped using its nurses on Jan. 30, has indicated it does not intend any further deployments, and refuses to discuss the matter, referring to this as "anticipatory breach of contract." On Jan. 30, Vitalité advised CHL nurses that the contract was being cancelled and that they should seek alternate employment with either Vitalité or another travel agency, This "unauthorized communication" contained "misrepresentations, factual inconsistencies, and confidential and privileged information," according to the statement of claim. It resulted in "significant contractual turmoil" between Canadian Health Labs and its human health resources, significant disruption between CHL and its other logistics support providers, and significant reputational harm, the company contends.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
I'm confident new law will fend off lawsuit: Holt
Premier Susan Holt says she's 'quite confident' a new law will help Vitalité Health Network fend off legal action from an Ontario-based travel nurse company. And she's basically shut down any notion that the Liberals will call a public inquiry into the travel nurse contracts signed in New Brunswick, despite calling for the Progressive Conservatives to do exactly that when they were in power. Canadian Health Labs (CHL) is suing Vitalité, alleging 'numerous breaches of contract' and a failure to make payments on time – or not at all. The core of CHL's lawsuit revolves around four allegations: that Vitalité underused CHL workers, didn't pay the agreed-upon amount for the services it received, stopped using the company's workers as of Jan. 30 despite the contract running until at least Feb. 5 next year, and encouraged CHL workers to instead work for another travel nurse company, or for Vitalité. It's seeking unspecified damages and costs, with interest, and wants the court to issue injunctions preventing Vitalité from contacting CHL employees about job opportunities. None of the allegations have been proven in court, and the province hasn't filed a defence. When contacted on Wednesday, CHL declined to comment, and Vitalité said it was unaware it was facing legal action. Against the backdrop of the lawsuit, however, is legislation introduced by the Liberals two days before CHL filed its notice of action and statement of claim. An Act Respecting Travel Nurses, say the Liberals, 'would cancel the contract and aim to protect the government from legal action.' That legislation was introduced on March 19, and the lawsuit was filed two days later. On Thursday, Brunswick News asked Holt about the legislation, which isn't in effect yet, and the timing of CHL's action. 'The timing certainly was interesting: we tabled legislation and then their lawsuit landed,' she said. 'We have long felt an issue with the contract with CHL, and there's a process to go through – both the legislative process and the legal process – but we are going to fight to defend New Brunswickers' interests against a bad contract.' Later, Holt was asked for her thoughts on whether the new legislation will stand up to the lawsuit. 'I feel quite confident in the legislation that we've put forward,' she said. 'I think it's strong and it will do what we need it to do … I think our case against the CHL is strong. In the face of a bad contract, I don't know how they can defend it, but we're putting the mechanisms in place to protect New Brunswickers.' The contract between CHL and Vitalité was signed in December 2022, and doesn't expire until at least February next year. CHL provided 'teams' of employees for $10,000 a day – a much higher rate than other travel nurse companies were charging, according to the government. Holt was also asked about whether the Liberals will call a public inquiry into the travel nurse contracts – something the party wanted the previous Progressive Conservative government to do in June last year. That call came after a legislative committee questioned senior health officials about the contracts for days. 'Today, the Official Opposition echoes the call of former health minister Dorothy Shephard for a public inquiry into the mismanagement that led to the signing of these private travel nurse contracts and the premier's involvement in it,' read part of a Liberal press release issued at the time. The committee, which also called for a public inquiry because it felt too many questions about the contracts hadn't been answered, included Liberal MLAs Chuck Chiasson, Keith Chiasson, and Benoit Bourque. In January, Holt told Brunswick News that the government hadn't decided whether to call an inquiry. On Thursday, she seemed to inch closer to plainly saying there won't be one, and suggested the work that would be done by an inquiry is already being done. 'We are trying to fix the issue that was created by the bad contract with CHL, and get access to the information we need, and make the changes we need to get out of that contract and make sure that New Brunswick nurses have the opportunities to practice here – that New Brunswickers that are getting the service they deserve at a fair and competitive price, and under fair and competitive terms,' Holt said. 'We're trying to move forward to make sure that something like CHL doesn't happen again, but that we also get to the bottom of why it happened. So that work is being done, not under the structure of a formal public inquiry.'
CBC
07-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Expansion of Fredericton clinic first step to meeting Liberal care goal
Social Sharing Horizon Health has unveiled what the Holt government is calling the first of 30 promised collaborative care clinics that aim to transform the delivery of primary care in New Brunswick. Horizon's existing clinic on Fredericton's north side will expand this summer to take on 1,600 more patients using a "family health team" model developed by the health authority. It will give patients access to an even broader range of health professionals within the clinic, who will be able to treat more problems and steer more people away from expensive emergency care at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital. "If I take care of a patient well in my practice, the chance of them ending up in the emergency department for preventable issues is very, very small," said Dr. Ravneet Comstock, who is helping oversee new primary care models for Horizon. WATCH | 'Dreaming, planning, hoping': Horizon sets bold target: Horizon announces first of 30 promised clinics 15 minutes ago Duration 2:08 In last fall's election Premier Susan Holt promised to establish 30 collaborative care clinics across the province by 2028. The government expects 10 of them to be set up by March 31, 2026. Some of those collaborative clinics would be expansions of existing clinics, she made clear at the time. Holt has also promised to increase the number of New Brunswickers with access to a doctor or nurse practitioner to 85 per cent by 2028 from the current 79 per cent. Horizon Health CEO Margaret Melanson made an even bolder commitment at Monday's announcement. "We are targeting 2029 as a realistic timeline to match all people living in areas we serve with a family health team that is equipped to meet their primary care needs," she said. Health Minister John Dornan, a doctor who said he got into politics last year to address primary care, later told reporters that making sure "all people" have access to primary care was more of an aspirational objective. The two health authorities "are dreaming, are planning, are hoping for something better" than 85 per cent, said Dornan, a former Horizon CEO. "That's the difference. We set a benchmark that we know we will meet. Our CEOs are visionary, they're hopeful, and they have people on the ground who can aim higher than that." Not all of the promised 30 collaborative care clinics will follow Horizon's family health team model, and not all will be run by the Horizon or Vitalité regional health authorities. Others may be clinics in municipally owned buildings or operated by doctors directly. Besides doctors and nurse practitioners, the Fredericton Northside Community Health includes counsellors, social workers, dietitians, respiratory therapists, diabetes educators and others. It will soon move into a new space, in the same shopping mall, that is better suited for its expanded role. Melanson said that through the triaging of patients in emergency departments, Horizon estimates that 30 per cent of people who show up there could be helped by a primary care clinic if they had access. In the future, a triage nurse will be able to offer to arrange appointments for those patients at a clinic, often the next day. The clinic on Fredericton's north side will contact patients now on the provincial waiting list who live in that part of the city to register them for the 1,600 new clinic spots. To measure whether the clinic is achieving the objective, Horizon will also track whether there's a reduction in the number of people from those postal codes showing up at the emergency department. The government added $30 million to the health care budget this year to fund the first 10 collaborative care clinics.
CBC
19-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Province introduces legislation to cancel travel nurse contract that cost millions
Social Sharing The Holt government introduced new legislation Wednesday that would cancel a travel nurse contract with Canadian Health Labs. "Vitalité signed a contract with CHL in the midst of the pandemic. We were desperate," said Health Minister John Dornan. "The contract that we signed was not a good contract for New Brunswickers, for taxpayers." By using legislation to cancel the contract the province doesn't expect to face financial or legal penalties. The contract was signed by Vitalite in 2022 as the health-care system faced dire staffing shortages. The agreement was later slammed by Auditor General Paul Martin, who said it carried a significant amount of risk and contained an auto-renewal clause should Canadian Health Labs meet its French-language obligations. "The contracts with private nursing agencies were not reflective of best practices and did not demonstrate value for money," Martin said in his report. WATCH | 'We were desperate.' Travel nurse contracts to be axed: New Brunswick to scrap controversial travel nurse contract 41 minutes ago Duration 2:07 Vitalité's three contracts with the company, which covered from July 2022 to February 2026, totalled $98 million, according to Martin. The company charged about $300 an hour per nurse — roughly six times what a local staff nurse earns. Dornan said he's confident the province will be able to fulfil its staffing needs. "We feel that we will be well served and have adequate nurses for our system without this contract.". Vitalité recently cancelled the shifts of Canadian Health Labs' nurses working in its facilities. Department of Finance officials confirmed to CBC News on Tuesday that the 2025-2026 budget contained no money for travel nurses. However, Dornan told reporters Wednesday that there are still a handful of nurses from different agencies working in the province, but said the need for travel nurses decreases "on a daily basis." At least $108 million went to pay travel nurses in the fiscal year that ends on March 31. Opposition Leader Glen Savoie said the Higgs government was looking at similar options prior to last October's election. "We were looking at that and what it may cost us in terms of going to the courts," Savoie said. He said if the government feels this is the right thing to do, "then we'll support that, but we want to know the details on how they intend to manage through the situation such as a possible court challenge and ensure people are getting health care." Green Leader David Coon said the move needed to happen, considering the concerns with the contract. "This was overdue. I don't know who signed that contract but it was ill-conceived and ill-determined and should never have been signed," he said. "This is the best way to move forward and relieve Vitalité of that burden." Paula Doucet, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, applauded the government for taking action, but says the next step will be to ensure the need for agency nurses is permanently reduced. "We saw Horizon did that last September. There were some pains in the beginning, but we managed to work through that and I think Vitalité can really learn from Horizon's mistakes," she said. "I'd really like to see a three-month, six-month, 12-month plan put in place to actually phase out the use of these private, for-profit companies." Doucet hopes the union will be back at the bargaining table with the government soon and said that the lack of a contract can be an impediment to attracting new nursing graduates to work in the province. According to a news release from the province, there was a net increase of 393 nurses over the last year, and there are nearly a thousand more students enrolled in nursing programs than in 2018. One of the government's signature election promises was to make $10,000 retention payments to nurses working in permanent roles in the province. Another $5,000 bonus will go out this year.
