Alberta minister says third party to help probe into lucrative health contracts

EDMONTON — Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says an unnamed third party has been called in for an investigation into reports of high-level government interference and questionable deal-making in medical contracts and product buys.

“We are going to have an external party do it, and so I am looking forward to making information – as much as possible – public so that people know what’s going on,” LaGrange told reporters at the legislature Tuesday.

“People deserve to know what’s going on and we want to make sure that happens.”

Later Tuesday, LaGrange’s office, in response to media questions, clarified that the third party will assist in the review being conducted by Alberta Health Services but that overall control remains with the government.

Last week, Alberta Health Services and Alberta’s auditor general announced they will be looking into questions surrounding health procurement.

The reviews were announced after the Globe and Mail newspaper detailed allegations from the recently dismissed head of Alberta Health Services, which is the body that oversees front-line health care in the province.

The allegations are contained in a recent letter sent to AHS by the lawyer for former AHS president Athana Mentzelopoulos.

Mentzelopoulos was fired from the top job a month ago and the letter details allegations of high-level arm-twisting and conflicts of interest surrounding multimillion-dollar deals for health products and surgical procedures.

The letter also alleges Mentzelopoulos was fired Jan. 8, two days before she was to meet with the auditor general to discuss her findings into overpriced contracts with private surgical centres and suppliers.

AHS said last week it will suspend awarding contracts to firms at the centre of its investigation but has not specified what those firms are.

Health-care unions and advocacy groups along with the Opposition NDP have called for an independent inquiry into the affair, with the NDP saying the allegations reach right into Premier Danielle Smith’s office and that the government can’t be trusted to investigate itself.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi called again Tuesday for Smith and LaGrange to step aside during the investigations.

Smith has not spoken publicly on the allegations, but over the weekend issued a statement calling the allegations “troubling” and urging they be reviewed as quickly as possible.

“As premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing. Any insinuation to the contrary is false, baseless and defamatory,” Smith wrote.

Smith’s government is in the midst of dismantling Alberta Health Services and replacing it with four new public health agencies each responsible for a certain sector of services.

AHS, once the province’s overarching health authority, is to be reduced to a hospital services provider under a new Acute Care Alberta agency that will report to LaGrange.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2025.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press