In a 11 -page court document presented on Thursday, the former Alberta Health Services CEO alleges that the Minister of Health of the Province and AHS have created a narrative about it that is “completely unfounded, completely fictitious, malicious” and full of “accusations of bad faith.”
Athanana Mentzelopoulos was responding to the declarations of defense of the Provincial Health Agency and Minister of Health Adriana Lagrange Last week, alleged Mentzelopoulos were finished due to their work performance.
Mentzelopoulos before He filed a lawsuit for unfair dismissal of $ 1.7 million against AHS and the province in February, in which he said he had been fired after initiating an investigation into several contracts with links with government officials.
The province has appointed a former main judge of Manitoba to direct third party investigation into the acquisition. Alberta RCMP and Alberta General Auditor are also investigating.
The accusations have not been tested in court.
In response to a request for comments on the accusations contained in the document on Thursday of Mentzelopoulos, a spokesman for Lagrange wrote that the province had “submitted a complete and complete declaration of defense related to the subject AHS, in which our position is very clear.”
“As stated above, we welcome the review of the General Auditor and the independent third party investigation directed by the Honorable Raymond E. Wyant, and we expect the results,” says the statement.
“Until these reviews are completed, we will not comment on these matters.”
Ahs trust in Mentzelopoulos
In the “Response to Defense Declarations” of Mentzelopoulos, presented on March 20, the former CEO states that defense statements are “full of completely unfounded, completely fictitious, malicious and bad faith accusations, the accusations of Mentzelopoulos and its performance, while the CEO and president of AHS”, she alleges that she must defend himself from the submission of the submission of the accusations in the statement.
Thursday’s document also rejects several of the accusations made in defense statements. In his judicial presentation, Ahs said that Mentzelopoulos had shown an “alarming lack of strategic vision” and had lost Ahs’s confidence.
Mentzelopoulos said that the Board of Directors of AHS had confidence in her throughout her work in AHS and “did not lose confidence in her at any time.”
He added that the Board never expressed any concern about his performance, or “about his work to guide AHS through medical care (often unbalanced and poorly articulated) of health health that was being directed by Alberta Health.”
Reference was made to December 2, 2024, meeting with Lagrange to discuss the changes in progress in AHS.
Mentzelopoulos alleges that at this meeting, Lagrange told him that she was happy with the work she had been doing and supposedly said: “I think you have done some phenomenal things in Alberta’s health services, as honestly, I really do.”
Little more than a month later, on January 7, 2025, Lagrange demanded that the Board of the Board Mentzelopoulos alleges.
‘Inflated’ with research
Lagrange’s defense statement claimed that Mentzelopoulos “fell in love” with his internal investigations. By rejecting that claim, Mentzelopoulos alleges that the Board of AHS recommended that the research and external audit be extended after being advised from its objectives.
“Presumably, the members of the Board of AHS were also ‘in love’ of investigations such as Lagrange strangely alleges against Mentzelopoulos in their defense statement,” says the document.
Mentzelopoulos also alleges that three deputy ministers attended a meeting of the Board of AHS on December 19, 2024, in their dual abilities as attached ministers and also as members of the Board of AHS. At that meeting, they “heard the recommendation of other members of the Board of Ahs that the investigation is potentially expanded and the matter will be sent to the RCMP for a possible criminal investigation.”
On December 20, 2024, AHS sent a letter to Mhcare Medical, Alfa Mentzelopoulos. In 2022, MHCare obtained a $ 70 million contract for drug pain in Turkey in the midst of a drug shortage nationwide.
The letter demanded “a ‘complete accounting and conciliation of the prepaid that made MHCARE’ for the $ 70 million that was somehow prepaid by Ahs for MHCare for the provision even without filling of the child acetaminophen.” An MHCare lawyer did not respond immediately to comment on Friday.
The next business day, on December 23, 2024, Mentzelopoulos alleges that he received a letter from Chris Nickerson, Vice Minister of Health. “He instructed Mentzelopoulos to finish internal research in CSF and transfer all files related to Alberta Health,” he says.
She claims that “AHS will cease any due diligence ongoing with respect to the acquisitions of the CSF or any selected proponent at least and until more is notified.”
Research claims
Mentzelopoulos alleges that she spoke with Evan Romanow, Vice Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, on January 2, 2025.
“Romanow said that the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Dan Williams, was” very worried “for the internal investigations of AHS and the Forensic Audit,” says the document.
Romanow said Williams was “worried that the investigation could lead to possible connections between several government officials and Sam Mraiche and Mhcare Medical around the problems of acquiring AHS.”
At a press conference on Friday morning, Alberta Prime Minister Danielle Smith said the government would issue a public statement that responded to Mentzelopoulos accusations about Williams later in the day.
Later in the March 20 document, Mentzelopoulos responded to an accusation of Lagrange’s defense declaration that Mentzelopoulos was upset by the plans to reduce the size of AHS, because “it would reduce the size of the organization that would preside over the plaintiff.”
“Almost immediately, the plaintiff began to express personal concern because it was seen as a transition CEO ‘if measures were taken to reform the management and structure of AHS as planned by the province,” says Lagrange’s declaration of defense.
In his response to that statement, Mentzelopoulos alleges that it was “specifically counted in November 2023 by the Vice President of Health [Andre] Tremblay and Adm [Darren] Hedley that the intention was for Mentzelopoulos initially assume the role of the president and the CEO of AHS, and then be transition to what became acute alberta care. “
“It was also secured and promised a four -year employment period if it left its job in the Alberta Medical Association,” says the document.
