Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership

[Bede]

I'm not much into rumours, more of a facts person. We'll have to wait and see how the facts play out.

That's an exceedingly rare but honourable position to take. However, do you not find it disturbing that you, as an employee, don't know whether you work for a for profit corporation, or a charity, or a not-for-profit?

[North Shore]

Over the years, reading about shit like this, I've gone from indifference (at an early age), to quiet unrest, to categorical disgust, and most recently, to outright rage. It's not particularly Christian of me to think about what sorts of things could justifiably happen to this clown-with-letters-before-his-name and yet I wouldn't feel an ounce of guilt if something in that vein actually came to pass. Money and power corrupts. It's a systemic cancer in the capitalist era. No more, no less. It's the fact that it can happen so closely to an important ministry in the government without (what appears to be) anyone's knowledge. Extend the range on the TCAS and it's not hard to imagine how much money is being 'wasted' at all levels of all government. The irony is that it takes expensive commissions, audits, and inquisitions paid for by Joe Shmoe's taxes to get to the bottom of the money pit. It's a shame that ORNGE will be cast in a bad light from here on because of a few greedy arses reaching to the bottom of the piggy bank. I especially like this passage:

"At the ORNGE Communication Centre (OCC), where dispatchers handle calls from across the province and send helicopters and airplanes (both ORNGE-owned and those on contract to the service), staff live in fear of tirades from Dr. Chris Mazza, who until Thursday was the president.
They say he would yell about “money wasted” if helicopters were dispatched incorrectly."

What, he was afraid there would be nothing left over for him? Pot, meet kettle. Fu@kface....

Indeed! It's enough to make one's blood boil.

[Edited for legalities.]

[FL280]

.

[ipilot54]

No, not really. I do what I'm asked to do and hope that what I do saves lives or makes someones life better. Maybe someone will have a next birthday because of what I do, maybe someone will have a parent around for a while longer because what I did that day, or maybe, just maybe, someone will get the help they need to change their life for the better. Everyone on that aircraft works as a team, medics and pilots, no matter what The Star twists into what looks good for them. If you want to insult the ego's at the top, then plesae feel free to do so, if you want to insult the system then please feel free to do so, but do not insult me by claiming that I'm ignorant about the company I work for. I do what I'm asked to do when the phone rings and I'm god damn proud of what I do and the people of Ontario that I serve. I work for Ornge Global, ALL the pilots do and the medics work for Ornge, for the Province. Whether Ornge deserves to exist or not has nothing to do with me, never has, I wasn't invited to the meeting, and yes I will defend the work that Ornge and Ornge Global does, for no other reason than I believe in this essential service (please, no smartass comments about getting paid to do my job), as for anything else I can't offer an educated opinion and I will not insult anyone by guessing. I know who I work for and who I get paid from, and they aren't the same person. I work FOR the people of Ontario who need the service we provide, I get paid by Ornge Global. Don't ever doubt that I think about this everyday. Other than the sour-puss 'whistle blowers' at this company, I've never been more proud and priveleged to work with a greater group of people who have the same goal, and if you're confused about what that is then let me fill you in. All the front line staff are passionate about what they do, professional to the core and they ALL give a shit, no matter what The Star blows out of proportion or what some uneducated people 'believe' or 'think' or 'feel' about Ornge or who has the terrific idea to try and destroy a service that many depend on. Aim your anger in the right direction, point it up, not across at the people doing the work day in and day out, that's all I ask.

Wow! Your statement goes to show you do not have a clue at to what the Star is reporting. (do some research!) And you are ignorant about the company that you work for. But you "believe", gotta give you that. You work for the people of Ontario? No, you work for a "for-profit" company that is screwing the people of Ontario. Ornge Global's costs of operation is more than double the cost to move each patient and the owners group is reaping the benefit. I think that you have been listening to Mazza too much. Oh and by the way; the last time I checked, there are other operators out there doing Air Ambulance in Ontario and from what I am told, doing a better job that just moving one patient per day per medic. And my bet is that you will see CHC back in shortly, after they are invited back by the Minister. (or her replacement) And as far as your common "goal" goes, what was your position during your Union negotiations????

[FL280]

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[Hiflyer2]

I found an interesting post by Smitherman that can be taken in many ways.... It was in the online responses to the article by Cohn. It says a lot if you read between the lines!! I don't like Smitherman at all but at least he responded! Unlike the Ornge clowns!

The ORNGE debacle's political roots, Dec. 24

This column by Queen’s Park columnist Martin Regg Cohn suggests that much of the ORNGE scandal should be settled on my dime. Let’s first make clear that I have not been the Minister of Health and Long Term Care for three and a half years. More to the point, the circumstances that are being criticized today were not in play at the time I was minister. I am surprised that throughout your pursuit of the ORNGE story, nobody from the Star contacted me.

The controversy: ORNGE acquired a new head office; ORNGE paid a whopping salary to their CEO; and ORNGE pursued private sector business opportunities. In the matters that are central to the Star’s investigation, it is very clear that these activities occurred following my five years as Minister of Health and Long Term Care.

That the ministry did not conduct proper oversight, and did not (as of two days ago) understand what was happening at ORNGE, is a commentary on my successors and the ministry.

It will be conveniently argued that the not-for-profit model that I created has in turn created the opportunity for these conditions to emerge. This is plain fantasy. Pretending that the Ministry of Health, which provides about 90 per cent of ORNGE’s money, was or is powerless to correct any operational deficiencies they may have discovered is not credible. People with power should not be allowed to pretend they lack it.

They had the ability to restrict payment, which is the greatest and most powerful tool available. Not to mention that the government could have moved with legislative or regulatory changes at any time if it felt like the public interest was at risk. What seems clear is that nobody at MOHLTC was paying sufficient attention to the operation of ORNGE until the Star called.

It is true that I moved to integrate the Ontario Air Ambulance Program, which, when I arrived as minister of health had a complicated operational structure with different organizations providing different parts of the service. Dispatch was housed in one place and actual operations in another. This was not a good recipe when minutes are a matter of life and death.

And it is also true that I created a not-for-profit model. I was convinced that, as in Alberta, there was an opportunity for ORNGE.to raise resources from the communities that are served and saved by an Air Ambulance Program. Considering that Ontario is huge, and that our air ambulance program is the best in the world, we were hopeful that a portion of the budget could be raised from the community, as is the case with most public health care delivery organizations such as hospitals.

To suggest that this model didn’t go to cabinet is just plain folly. It required legislation and no piece of legislation goes directly to the floor of the legislature without going first through cabinet. Perhaps my unquoted former cabinet colleague is embarrassed that they didn’t review the cabinet materials.

That some anonymous politician, or one of their minions, wishes to play this game is disheartening and frankly the lack of a defense of the Ontario Air Ambulance service shows a withering backbone that day in and day out becomes a more prominent feature of the current government.

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater might seem like an elegant response the first time out, but is becoming an all too common element of the current government’s issues management mindset.

I am proud of ORNGE and I think it is an essential element of the Ontario health care system. It saves lives and it serves.

I didn’t authorize the salary and I wouldn’t have tolerated it. If I was told I wasn’t privy to that information, I would have knocked down doors to get it. The point is that no piece of legislation is perfect and “unintended consequences” are very normal, but you only learn of “unintended consequences” if you are engaged. It seems clear that nobody at MOHLTC has been very interested in those helicopters flying overhead.

Going forward I certainly expect that those, be they at the Star, the auditor or any member of the Ontario Legislature who wishes to discuss matters related to my time in office will simply call me.

I am anxious to be held accountable for my actions and accordingly shall be asking the secretary of cabinet to release all materials related to the development of the not-for-profit model for Ontario’s Air Ambulance Program. Those details, along with a review of the actions by the MOHLTC over the past three and half years will shed a lot of light on the situation and help Ontarians to know what actually happened.

George Smitherman, Former Ontario Minister of Health, Toronto

[Bede]

FL280,

Earlier in the thread I asked for some insight into who works for who. You said you didn't know (you're not into rumours). I found it disturbing that you didn't know who you work for.

In your latest post, you actually provide the information I was looking for- you work for Ornge Global.

There is no doubt that you take great pride in the work you do. I felt the same way when I did air ambulance work. You fail to realize that the posters on this thread are not attacking you, your coworkers or the essential work you do. What I (and I assume most others) are disappointed with is that Ornge was always sold to the citizens of Ontario as a not-for-profit service who were going to bring the air ambulance business back into public hands. What we got was a smoke screen of alturism whereby one company takes all the flying from all the small companies. Had Mazza come out a few years ago and said, "we're going to start a company, which I own and run and take all the flying back, BECAUSE I DECIDE WHO GETS THE FLYING", the story would be much different.

At best this is a conflict of interest and poor optics, at worst it's criminal. We'll see what the auditors find out, and when made public, we'll see the real picture.

[westcoastwonder]

I like today's story of ORNGE spending $600,000 for their " executives" to go to bussiness school. I went to school in Brussells.

[Heliian]

It seems that the ornge master plan is falling apart. The services have become worse since ornge came around because they had full intention of cutting back on their operation. It's a neat trick to look good, get a big chunk of money from the government then "realign" the infrastructure to save costs. By "realign" I mean close sub bases and use less a/c. The 139 has been a complete farce with the a/c spending more time being maintained than flying.

The original idea to even use the 139's was, for lack of a better word, dumb. For all the trouble and costs of the 139, more crews and less expensive yet still more capable a/c could have been bought and service levels kept up to a decent standard. But the "range" of the 139 on paper was the deciding factor.

Medevacs are done to save lives, not make a profit. The government is going to spend a lot of money to do this but would it be less of a waste had it been kelner and canadian. I mean look how well kelner did with the contracts but he wasn't hiding behind a not for profit scam.

[midwingcrisis]

Understand...they just leaned house. Complete board gone

[spaner]

CHCH just broke it, said the government just fired the entire board.

[YYZSaabGuy]

From the ornge.ca website:

For Immediate Release
January 11, 2012
Ornge Board Accepts Minister’s Recommendation for the Appointment of an Interim President and CEO and Confirms its Intention to Resign
Announces the Winding-down of Ornge Global Solutions
Mississauga, Ontario – Today, the Ornge Board of Directors has accepted the recommendation from the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to appoint a senior member of the public service as an Interim President and CEO.
The board determined that it is in the best interests of the organization to resign as soon as a transition to a new volunteer board can be put in place. This will be done with input from the Government of Ontario.
In addition, Ornge also announced that Ornge Global Solutions, a for-profit company is winding down.
Guided by a renewed commitment to accountability and transparency, Ornge will undertake a comprehensive governance and performance review on an expedited basis.
The internal review will supplement the audits currently being undertaken by the Office of the Auditor General and the Ministry of Finance’s internal audit team. It will be guided by three priorities: a commitment to caring for patients; significantly improving transparency and accountability; and efficiency and performance. Outcomes of this review will be communicated to staff, patients, and the people of Ontario.
“We look forward to working in cooperation with the new Interim President and CEO as he focuses on a comprehensive governance and performance review. He will work along side Tom Lepine, who will continue in his role as Chief Operating Officer, said the board. “We are also eager to return our focus to where it should be – delivering invaluable transport medicine services to the people of Ontario and saving lives,” the board concluded.

[Salt]

Is Ornge global solutions a seperate entity to Ornge global air? Or are they one and the same?

[cdnpilot77]

Understand...they just leaned house. Complete board gone

Did anyone NOT see this coming? It was a matter of time and its about time! This venture has had a very bad odour since the get go! Hopefully the incoming board will do the right thing.

[2R]

If history repeats itself as it sometimes does.These chappies will be back at the government feeding trough as high paid consultants before the paint is dry on the new signs over their old offices

[whipline]

Ornge in jail!!

[Meatservo]

" A renewed commitment to accountability and transparency"...



Just like I told my wife, I have a renewed commitment to stop looking at porn and leaving my socks on the floor.

[I WAS Birddog]

Ahhh the power of the Internet...of it can take down dictators in Egypt...what chance does a greed dressed up in a power suit have.

Tax payers 1...Greed 1x millions. Let's keep this train wreck rollin'

[who me ?]

Who uncovered this mess and brought it to the public ?

The Star ? Whistle blowers ???

Who ever it was, I believe deserves a " Thank- You !"

[CL-Skadoo!]

Who uncovered this mess and brought it to the public ?

The Star ? Whistle blowers ???

Who ever it was, I believe deserves a " Thank- You !"

It was I WAS BIRDDOG. Send him a fruit basket.