Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
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Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
ORNGE: Air ambulance service seeks new CEO
Published on Tuesday July 24, 2012
The embattled ORNGE air ambulance service has hired an international headhunting firm to find a permanent replacement for former president and CEO Chris Mazza.
But the executive search firm Spencer Stuart may not have to look far — interim CEO Ron McKerlie is interested in staying on.
On Tuesday, McKerlie said he has informed the ORNGE board of his “interest in the permanent president and CEO position.”
“I am interested in staying on in the role,” he told the Star. “It meets all of my employment criteria: meaningful work where the outcome makes a difference to people; a challenging-demanding work environment, and lots of opportunity to make things better.”
A deputy minister in the Ministry of Government Services, McKerlie has been seconded to the air ambulance service since January.
He was brought in after Mazza stepped down due to health reasons last December shortly after the Star revealed unusual business practices at the agency.
ORNGE’s new volunteer board, which replaced Mazza’s former overseers in January, is well aware of the need for a strong chief executive.
“The board is committed to conducting a thorough and transparent search process in order to attract candidates whose expertise and skills will contribute to continuous improvement in quality of patient care and operational excellence,” chair Ian Delaney said in a statement.
Anyone interested in applying for the job can email Spencer Stuart at orngeceo@spencerstuart.com.
Mazza’s annual compensation ballooned to about $2.6 million — $1.4 million in salary and bonuses plus $1.2 million in loans and a cash payout that the provincial government is trying to collect.
But his full-time successor will make considerably less. As a deputy minister, McKerlie earned $364,007 last year.
Mazza, a former emergency room doctor, founded publicly funded ORNGE and its complex web of subsidiaries that have since been unravelled.
Ontario Provincial Police are currently investing the ORNGE debacle, including a mysterious $6.7-million marketing services agreement that Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland paid to a Mazza-controlled for-profit firm shortly after ORNGE purchased 12 helicopters for $144 million.
In closely watched testimony before a legislative committee looking into ORNGE, Mazza last week insisted he had done nothing wrong and “always acted with the best interests of the public of Ontario.”
Published on Tuesday July 24, 2012
The embattled ORNGE air ambulance service has hired an international headhunting firm to find a permanent replacement for former president and CEO Chris Mazza.
But the executive search firm Spencer Stuart may not have to look far — interim CEO Ron McKerlie is interested in staying on.
On Tuesday, McKerlie said he has informed the ORNGE board of his “interest in the permanent president and CEO position.”
“I am interested in staying on in the role,” he told the Star. “It meets all of my employment criteria: meaningful work where the outcome makes a difference to people; a challenging-demanding work environment, and lots of opportunity to make things better.”
A deputy minister in the Ministry of Government Services, McKerlie has been seconded to the air ambulance service since January.
He was brought in after Mazza stepped down due to health reasons last December shortly after the Star revealed unusual business practices at the agency.
ORNGE’s new volunteer board, which replaced Mazza’s former overseers in January, is well aware of the need for a strong chief executive.
“The board is committed to conducting a thorough and transparent search process in order to attract candidates whose expertise and skills will contribute to continuous improvement in quality of patient care and operational excellence,” chair Ian Delaney said in a statement.
Anyone interested in applying for the job can email Spencer Stuart at orngeceo@spencerstuart.com.
Mazza’s annual compensation ballooned to about $2.6 million — $1.4 million in salary and bonuses plus $1.2 million in loans and a cash payout that the provincial government is trying to collect.
But his full-time successor will make considerably less. As a deputy minister, McKerlie earned $364,007 last year.
Mazza, a former emergency room doctor, founded publicly funded ORNGE and its complex web of subsidiaries that have since been unravelled.
Ontario Provincial Police are currently investing the ORNGE debacle, including a mysterious $6.7-million marketing services agreement that Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland paid to a Mazza-controlled for-profit firm shortly after ORNGE purchased 12 helicopters for $144 million.
In closely watched testimony before a legislative committee looking into ORNGE, Mazza last week insisted he had done nothing wrong and “always acted with the best interests of the public of Ontario.”
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
ORNGE: Former CEO of air ambulance service Chris Mazza refuses to return to testify
Published on Thursday July 26, 2012
Toronto Star Former CEO of ORNGE ambulance service Chris Mazza has informed the Ontario government through his lawyer, Roger Yachetti, that he will not be back to testify again before a legislative committee this summer.
Tanya Talaga Queen’s Park Bureau
The medically fragile founder and ex-CEO of Ontario’s ORNGE air ambulance service is, once again, refusing to testify before a provincial probe.
Dr. Chris Mazza, did speak before an all-party hearing last Wednesday after threats of two legislative warrants. But he has informed the government through his lawyer, Roger Yachetti, that he won’t be back this summer.
The committee requested Mazza return to answer questions surrounding a $6.7-million marketing services agreement with Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland. The deal is also being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police.
And since the Legislature has risen for the summer, the probe has few powers to force Mazza to testify.
Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees said Mazza’s undisclosed medical condition is keeping him from returning to the last three days of the hearing next week.
Previously, Mazza, a former emergency room physician, had produced doctor’s notes that have excused him from appearing due to his mental state.
“The subcommittee received a letter from his lawyer, advising the clerk that according to Mazza’s doctor, he is in no condition to return to testify at this point,” Klees told the Star on Thursday.
When Mazza appeared before the committee last week he often seemed physically weak and needed help standing out of his chair. His parents and girlfriend, Kelly Long, rushed to his side to help. Long is a former water ski instructor who rose the corporate ladder to become associate vice-president at ORNGE.
“There are those that feel I have been using my medical condition as a shield to hide . . . all I can say is that they are wrong,” Mazza told the hearing on July 18.
Mazza founded the $150 million a year agency in 2005 and then proceeded to transform it. He created for-profit spinoff companies, made questionable business deals and received eyebrow raising executive perks for the head of a public company. Mazza’s salary, bonus and interest free loans in the most recent year totalled about $2.6 million, the Star has previously reported. Mazza left ORNGE on Dec. 21.
Next Tuesday, Health Minister Deb Matthews will return to testify and on Wednesday, former ORNGE board chair Rainer Beltzner is to appear.
Committee chair Progressive Conservative Norm Miller said once the three days are over, there will be no more hearings until the Legislature resumes in the fall and the committees are reformed.
“The way it stands now, all the committees, just before the Legislature comes back, cease to exist,” Miller said. “I would hope the government would be anxious to keep this work going.”
Published on Thursday July 26, 2012
Toronto Star Former CEO of ORNGE ambulance service Chris Mazza has informed the Ontario government through his lawyer, Roger Yachetti, that he will not be back to testify again before a legislative committee this summer.
Tanya Talaga Queen’s Park Bureau
The medically fragile founder and ex-CEO of Ontario’s ORNGE air ambulance service is, once again, refusing to testify before a provincial probe.
Dr. Chris Mazza, did speak before an all-party hearing last Wednesday after threats of two legislative warrants. But he has informed the government through his lawyer, Roger Yachetti, that he won’t be back this summer.
The committee requested Mazza return to answer questions surrounding a $6.7-million marketing services agreement with Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland. The deal is also being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police.
And since the Legislature has risen for the summer, the probe has few powers to force Mazza to testify.
Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees said Mazza’s undisclosed medical condition is keeping him from returning to the last three days of the hearing next week.
Previously, Mazza, a former emergency room physician, had produced doctor’s notes that have excused him from appearing due to his mental state.
“The subcommittee received a letter from his lawyer, advising the clerk that according to Mazza’s doctor, he is in no condition to return to testify at this point,” Klees told the Star on Thursday.
When Mazza appeared before the committee last week he often seemed physically weak and needed help standing out of his chair. His parents and girlfriend, Kelly Long, rushed to his side to help. Long is a former water ski instructor who rose the corporate ladder to become associate vice-president at ORNGE.
“There are those that feel I have been using my medical condition as a shield to hide . . . all I can say is that they are wrong,” Mazza told the hearing on July 18.
Mazza founded the $150 million a year agency in 2005 and then proceeded to transform it. He created for-profit spinoff companies, made questionable business deals and received eyebrow raising executive perks for the head of a public company. Mazza’s salary, bonus and interest free loans in the most recent year totalled about $2.6 million, the Star has previously reported. Mazza left ORNGE on Dec. 21.
Next Tuesday, Health Minister Deb Matthews will return to testify and on Wednesday, former ORNGE board chair Rainer Beltzner is to appear.
Committee chair Progressive Conservative Norm Miller said once the three days are over, there will be no more hearings until the Legislature resumes in the fall and the committees are reformed.
“The way it stands now, all the committees, just before the Legislature comes back, cease to exist,” Miller said. “I would hope the government would be anxious to keep this work going.”
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
When Mazza appeared before the committee last week he often seemed physically weak and needed help standing out of his chair. His parents and girlfriend, Kelly Long, rushed to his side to help. Long is a former water ski instructor who rose the corporate ladder to become associate vice-president at ORNGE.
This guy should go to Hollywood with that acting ability! lol what a phoney. I like how he made his water ski girlfriend vice-president too.
This guy should go to Hollywood with that acting ability! lol what a phoney. I like how he made his water ski girlfriend vice-president too.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Did you catch the part where Mazza was prescribing painkillers for employees ?
Sending cheques to pharmacies to pay for painkillers.DR.Feelgood or another side business ?
Hopefully the OPP will get the party started before the DEA arrive and create some embarassment before the next election.
Sending cheques to pharmacies to pay for painkillers.DR.Feelgood or another side business ?
Hopefully the OPP will get the party started before the DEA arrive and create some embarassment before the next election.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Tanya Talaga
Queen’s Park Bureau
Matthews told an all-party hearing investigating the troubled provincial air ambulance service that claims by former ORNGE CEO Mazza that she repeatedly shunned his requests to meet with her as entirely false.
And after 600 pages of ORNGE testimony and listening to 54 witnesses by the end of the week, it is time for the committee to stop pointing blame and come up with recommendations on how to fix the system, Matthews added.
After four months of testimony, the probe has heard of Mazza’s reign at the agency since 2005, of the hiring of his water-ski instructor girlfriend who rose up the corporate ladder to become an associate vice president, and of the bizarre web of for-profit spin-off companies created by ORNGE. There are also questionable business dealings and contracts now being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police.
Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees, who has made it his mission to investigate ORNGE, dropped a bomb in committee by releasing a letter from a health ministry senior staffer warning of serious financial problems at the agency.
The memo was from Malcom Bates, director of the ministry’s emergency health services branch, dated June 29, 2011.
The letter warns senior ministry staff that the government may have to step in and assume massing debt at ORNGE. It also mentions a $4.3 million loan receivable where “taxpayer dollars” have been lent out and it discusses the jump in ORNGE’s capital assets. They rose from $96.4 million to $264 million and cite “assets under construction” as the reason for the rise.
“We do not have additional information on this — we assume this is planes that are not completed but are in progress,” the letter stated.
Matthews told the committee she has never seen Bates letter before.
Klees retorted back that he found it “passing strange” she had not seen it and questioned why.
“What are you hiding?” he questioned her.
Often, Liberal committee members jumped in to stop Klees as he questioned Matthews.
The health minister said Klees has a history of dropping information bombs that turn out to be untrue.
“On behalf of the frontline staff, the paramedics, pilots, the engineers, all 600 staff — would you stop running down the organization and be part of the solution? I am hungry for this committee to finish its work and write its report … I’d like the recommendations of the committee,” she said.
Klees shouted back his recommendations would be, “first of all start with your resignation.”
In the opposition dominated committee, NDP MPP’s France Gelinas and Jagmeet Singh both chastised Matthews for letting ORNGE “run amok” without proper oversight.
Gelinas pointed out back in 2010 then NDP MPP Howard Hampton asked 47 questions concerning ORNGE and Mazza’s salary in a committee meeting but his questions were completely ignored by government staffers.
“The warning signs were coming from all sides but you didn’t act until the story hit the front page of the paper,” she said, referring to the Toronto Star.
The Star was the first media outlet to reveal a litany of problems at the $150 million a year publicly funded air service, including the $1.4 million hidden salary of founder Mazza.
Gelinas also asked if taxpayers would be on the hook for the $1.8 million that helicopter firm AgustaWestland now wants back from ORNGE, as was disclosed in Tuesday’s Star.
Matthews replied that since the firm Agusta wants the money from is an ORNGE spin-off that is now bankrupt, taxpayers don’t have to worry about it.
Queen’s Park Bureau
Matthews told an all-party hearing investigating the troubled provincial air ambulance service that claims by former ORNGE CEO Mazza that she repeatedly shunned his requests to meet with her as entirely false.
And after 600 pages of ORNGE testimony and listening to 54 witnesses by the end of the week, it is time for the committee to stop pointing blame and come up with recommendations on how to fix the system, Matthews added.
After four months of testimony, the probe has heard of Mazza’s reign at the agency since 2005, of the hiring of his water-ski instructor girlfriend who rose up the corporate ladder to become an associate vice president, and of the bizarre web of for-profit spin-off companies created by ORNGE. There are also questionable business dealings and contracts now being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police.
Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees, who has made it his mission to investigate ORNGE, dropped a bomb in committee by releasing a letter from a health ministry senior staffer warning of serious financial problems at the agency.
The memo was from Malcom Bates, director of the ministry’s emergency health services branch, dated June 29, 2011.
The letter warns senior ministry staff that the government may have to step in and assume massing debt at ORNGE. It also mentions a $4.3 million loan receivable where “taxpayer dollars” have been lent out and it discusses the jump in ORNGE’s capital assets. They rose from $96.4 million to $264 million and cite “assets under construction” as the reason for the rise.
“We do not have additional information on this — we assume this is planes that are not completed but are in progress,” the letter stated.
Matthews told the committee she has never seen Bates letter before.
Klees retorted back that he found it “passing strange” she had not seen it and questioned why.
“What are you hiding?” he questioned her.
Often, Liberal committee members jumped in to stop Klees as he questioned Matthews.
The health minister said Klees has a history of dropping information bombs that turn out to be untrue.
“On behalf of the frontline staff, the paramedics, pilots, the engineers, all 600 staff — would you stop running down the organization and be part of the solution? I am hungry for this committee to finish its work and write its report … I’d like the recommendations of the committee,” she said.
Klees shouted back his recommendations would be, “first of all start with your resignation.”
In the opposition dominated committee, NDP MPP’s France Gelinas and Jagmeet Singh both chastised Matthews for letting ORNGE “run amok” without proper oversight.
Gelinas pointed out back in 2010 then NDP MPP Howard Hampton asked 47 questions concerning ORNGE and Mazza’s salary in a committee meeting but his questions were completely ignored by government staffers.
“The warning signs were coming from all sides but you didn’t act until the story hit the front page of the paper,” she said, referring to the Toronto Star.
The Star was the first media outlet to reveal a litany of problems at the $150 million a year publicly funded air service, including the $1.4 million hidden salary of founder Mazza.
Gelinas also asked if taxpayers would be on the hook for the $1.8 million that helicopter firm AgustaWestland now wants back from ORNGE, as was disclosed in Tuesday’s Star.
Matthews replied that since the firm Agusta wants the money from is an ORNGE spin-off that is now bankrupt, taxpayers don’t have to worry about it.
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Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
I watched some of that testimony last night and I don't think Matthews actually answered any of Klees' questions...she just danced around and did some finger pointing back at him. Funny how a "Confidential - Minister" letter can be seen by everyone in her department but her??? And according to her that happens regularly 
I guess I'm just not cut out for politics.
I also liked the testimony of the HR exec who was responsible for hiring Mazza's girlfriend, the chairman's daughter as well as her own daughter claiming they were the best candidates for the job
I guess I'm just not cut out for politics.I also liked the testimony of the HR exec who was responsible for hiring Mazza's girlfriend, the chairman's daughter as well as her own daughter claiming they were the best candidates for the job
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Tanya Talaga
Queen’s Park Bureau
Former ORNGE board chair Rainer Beltzner stunned a legislative inquiry examining the provincial air ambulance service Wednesday with new information on the former CEO’s salary.
Beltzner, a chartered accountant who races a Porsche in his spare time, surprised the probe with revelations about ex-CEO Chris Mazza’s true salary, contracts paid without invoices and a marketing services agreement between ORNGE and Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland that is being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police.
The legislative committee was astonished to hear Beltzner testify “he saw a document that confirmed it was not necessary for ORNGE to pay the additional $6.7 million for the upgrades to AgustaWestland but it was paid, nevertheless,” said Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees.
ORNGE bought 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland for $144 million in 2008 and shortly after, ORNGE received a $4.7 million marketing services contract with another $2 million contract in the works, the Star has previously reported.
“I’ve referred on a number of occasions that the payment was highly questionable and now apparently Mr. Beltzner agrees,” Klees said outside of committee.
Liberal MPP Liz Sandals called Beltzner’s testimony as “absolutely astounding” and New Democrat MPP France Gelinas said she couldn’t believe there is still new information coming forward this late in the hearings. Thursday is the last day of the probe this summer.
“This is exactly why I think when the forensic accountants went in . . . when they reported back, it was turned over to the OPP,” Sandals said once the hearing was over.
No one expected Beltzner to tell the committee that he found other contracts and payments going to Mazza, Sandals said.
This is a situation where the “board didn’t know what was going on,” she added.
Mazza repeatedly told the committee when he testified on July 18 he was not involved in setting his $1.4 million compensation.
Between 2006 and 2011, Mazza’s pay increased by $1.1 million, the committee heard. “That seems like a rather large increase . . . Do you believe, in hindsight it was excessive, perhaps not outrageous?” Sandals asked Beltzner.
Beltzner assured the committee that “based on my experience in having dealt with probably well over 100 CEOs in my professional career, I don’t know any CEO who is totally absent from discussion in compensation.”
In fact, Mazza had a pay-per-performance salary with a base of about $500,000 with bonuses, he said. The CEO prepared a balance score card, setting out key objectives tied to business plans and presented it to the board, Beltzner added.
“The CEO self-evaluates his performance and presents his achievement level to the board as well as his recommendation for the bonus,” he said.
Also revealed on Wednesday was that Mazza had an ongoing contract with ORNGE, through his private company, for his services as a medical director, Beltzner testified.
“But what became apparent in 2011, though, was that Dr. Mazza was not, in fact, providing any of the services, nor were they required,” he said.
However, payments were demanded by Mazza and made without any invoices, Beltzner added.
Sandals wants ORNGE to hand over all documents surrounding payments to Mazza.
“We need to know about every single payment that went to Dr. Mazza,” she said.
And, the probe heard Mazza received a $400,000 housing loan that was secured against shares he owned in an ORNGE global management firm called OGMI.
Klees noted the firm, with shares held by Mazza, seemed to have “no source of income” and “no assets.”
Beltzner also defended his $200,000 compensation, first revealed in the Star, saying he deserved it for all the time he put in working at the provincial air ambulance service.
Beltzner was replaced as chair by mining executive Ian Delaney, chair of Sherritt International Corporation.
Queen’s Park Bureau
Former ORNGE board chair Rainer Beltzner stunned a legislative inquiry examining the provincial air ambulance service Wednesday with new information on the former CEO’s salary.
Beltzner, a chartered accountant who races a Porsche in his spare time, surprised the probe with revelations about ex-CEO Chris Mazza’s true salary, contracts paid without invoices and a marketing services agreement between ORNGE and Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland that is being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police.
The legislative committee was astonished to hear Beltzner testify “he saw a document that confirmed it was not necessary for ORNGE to pay the additional $6.7 million for the upgrades to AgustaWestland but it was paid, nevertheless,” said Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees.
ORNGE bought 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland for $144 million in 2008 and shortly after, ORNGE received a $4.7 million marketing services contract with another $2 million contract in the works, the Star has previously reported.
“I’ve referred on a number of occasions that the payment was highly questionable and now apparently Mr. Beltzner agrees,” Klees said outside of committee.
Liberal MPP Liz Sandals called Beltzner’s testimony as “absolutely astounding” and New Democrat MPP France Gelinas said she couldn’t believe there is still new information coming forward this late in the hearings. Thursday is the last day of the probe this summer.
“This is exactly why I think when the forensic accountants went in . . . when they reported back, it was turned over to the OPP,” Sandals said once the hearing was over.
No one expected Beltzner to tell the committee that he found other contracts and payments going to Mazza, Sandals said.
This is a situation where the “board didn’t know what was going on,” she added.
Mazza repeatedly told the committee when he testified on July 18 he was not involved in setting his $1.4 million compensation.
Between 2006 and 2011, Mazza’s pay increased by $1.1 million, the committee heard. “That seems like a rather large increase . . . Do you believe, in hindsight it was excessive, perhaps not outrageous?” Sandals asked Beltzner.
Beltzner assured the committee that “based on my experience in having dealt with probably well over 100 CEOs in my professional career, I don’t know any CEO who is totally absent from discussion in compensation.”
In fact, Mazza had a pay-per-performance salary with a base of about $500,000 with bonuses, he said. The CEO prepared a balance score card, setting out key objectives tied to business plans and presented it to the board, Beltzner added.
“The CEO self-evaluates his performance and presents his achievement level to the board as well as his recommendation for the bonus,” he said.
Also revealed on Wednesday was that Mazza had an ongoing contract with ORNGE, through his private company, for his services as a medical director, Beltzner testified.
“But what became apparent in 2011, though, was that Dr. Mazza was not, in fact, providing any of the services, nor were they required,” he said.
However, payments were demanded by Mazza and made without any invoices, Beltzner added.
Sandals wants ORNGE to hand over all documents surrounding payments to Mazza.
“We need to know about every single payment that went to Dr. Mazza,” she said.
And, the probe heard Mazza received a $400,000 housing loan that was secured against shares he owned in an ORNGE global management firm called OGMI.
Klees noted the firm, with shares held by Mazza, seemed to have “no source of income” and “no assets.”
Beltzner also defended his $200,000 compensation, first revealed in the Star, saying he deserved it for all the time he put in working at the provincial air ambulance service.
Beltzner was replaced as chair by mining executive Ian Delaney, chair of Sherritt International Corporation.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Tanya Talaga
Queen’s Park Bureau
The inner workings of Ontario’s provincial air ambulance service could be mistaken for a new television melodrama.
After listening to nearly 60 witnesses filling 600 pages of testimony on everything from sex and lavish travel to nepotism and a web of now bankrupt for-profit companies, high salaries and questionable contracts, the provincial committee investigating the ORNGE scandal is now recessed until the fall.
That means the report and list of recommendations on how to rescue and rebrand ORNGE isn’t anywhere near completion or release.
All committees of the Legislature are dissolved over the summer, explained New Democratic MPP France Gelinas. On Sept. 10, new bodies will be put together. But two by-elections this fall — one in Kitchener-Waterloo and the other in Vaughan — threatens to delay the entire process.
“By the time we get this back together, there is nothing to say the same people will be appointed to the same committee, so there is chance for a huge delay,” Gelinas said.
But all is not lost, said Liberal MPP Liz Sandals. A researcher is putting together an outline and table of contents of the “report we’ll eventually work on” and a summary of the testimony,” Sandals said.
Peeling back the layers at ORNGE has been a daunting task, one that was spearheaded by the Toronto Star in its ongoing investigation that produced 51 front page articles.
In the Legislature, Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees doggedly asked questions about ORNGE before it was on anyone’s radar.
Auditor General Jim McCarter weighed in, discovering provincial funding of ORNGE — now at $150 million annually — has also risen 20 per cent over the past few years while the number of patients transported has fallen by 6 per cent.
McCarter blamed the government for missing a number of signals that problems were brewing and for weak performance agreements that did not require detailed breakdowns of results from the complex web or ORNGE subsidiaries.
Ontario Integrity Commissioner Lynn Morrison told the hearing Thursday that Alfred Apps, former Fasken Martineau lawyer, should have registered as a lobbyist at Queen’s Park. His role in trying to set up meetings with government staffers was committee fodder for days.
Apps, former president of the Liberal Party of Canada, was Fasken’s key corporate adviser at ORNGE. Fasken billed 22,000 hours on the ORNGE file at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $10 million.
What has been discovered at ORNGE has stunned even the most cynical political observer.
Founder Dr. Chris Mazza was described as a “passionate visionary” but one with a quick temper and domineering attitude.
Health Minister Deb Matthews testified Mazza refused to meet with her, that he stonewalled the auditor as he tried to investigate, that he refused to disclose his salary and that he “manipulated patient transfer numbers” to her ministry.
It took the threats of two legislative warrants to finally bring Mazza before the opposition dominated probe. Doctors had said he was too fragile to testify.
When he did appear on July 18 he alternated between quiet whimpers, irritated defiance, and frequently blamed his memory loss on events due to the 2006 death of his son and an unidentified “sickness.”
Gelinas and the rest of the probe was “absolutely astounded” on Wednesday after listening to the latest round of revelations from ex-board chair Rainer Beltzner — a Porsche-race car driving chartered accountant who pocketed $200,000 in compensation.
He testified Wednesday that Mazza knew full well his compensation was at least $1.4 million last year — contrary to Mazza’s testimony that he didn’t have a hand in deciding his salary — and that the physician had a private company that had a contract with ORNGE.
When Beltzner found this out he also discovered, “Dr. Mazza was not, in fact, providing any of the services, nor were they required.” Further more, payments were demanded by Mazza and they were made without invoices, Beltzner testified.
Perhaps most surprising was Beltzner’s admission he knew ORNGE paid millions in unnecessary fees to Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland, Klees said.
“He saw a document that confirmed it was not necessary for ORNGE to pay the additional $6.7 million for the upgrades to Agusta but it was paid, nevertheless,” Klees told the Star.
ORNGE bought 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland for $144 million in 2008 and shortly afterwards, ORNGE received a $4.7 million marketing services contract with another $2 million contract in the works, the Star has previously reported. The Ontario Provincial Police is investigating the deal.
Beltzner’s daughter, Carrie Anne Brunet worked on the marketing contract at ORNGE with Kelly Long. However Beltzner testified he didn’t know his daughter was working on the agreement.
Long, a former water-ski instructor and a York University graduate, was Mazza’s girlfriend. How she became employed at ORNGE and quickly rose through the ranks to become an associate vice-president occupied hours of committee time.
Throughout it all, McGuinty has defended Matthews. On Thursday while in Kitchener, the premier called on politicians from all parties to move forward legislation, “that gives the government additional oversight on these organizations.”
McGuinty also acknowledged McCarter was correct. “The auditor said we failed to provide the necessary oversight over ORNGE. I accept that. We have learned our lesson there.”
Queen’s Park Bureau
The inner workings of Ontario’s provincial air ambulance service could be mistaken for a new television melodrama.
After listening to nearly 60 witnesses filling 600 pages of testimony on everything from sex and lavish travel to nepotism and a web of now bankrupt for-profit companies, high salaries and questionable contracts, the provincial committee investigating the ORNGE scandal is now recessed until the fall.
That means the report and list of recommendations on how to rescue and rebrand ORNGE isn’t anywhere near completion or release.
All committees of the Legislature are dissolved over the summer, explained New Democratic MPP France Gelinas. On Sept. 10, new bodies will be put together. But two by-elections this fall — one in Kitchener-Waterloo and the other in Vaughan — threatens to delay the entire process.
“By the time we get this back together, there is nothing to say the same people will be appointed to the same committee, so there is chance for a huge delay,” Gelinas said.
But all is not lost, said Liberal MPP Liz Sandals. A researcher is putting together an outline and table of contents of the “report we’ll eventually work on” and a summary of the testimony,” Sandals said.
Peeling back the layers at ORNGE has been a daunting task, one that was spearheaded by the Toronto Star in its ongoing investigation that produced 51 front page articles.
In the Legislature, Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees doggedly asked questions about ORNGE before it was on anyone’s radar.
Auditor General Jim McCarter weighed in, discovering provincial funding of ORNGE — now at $150 million annually — has also risen 20 per cent over the past few years while the number of patients transported has fallen by 6 per cent.
McCarter blamed the government for missing a number of signals that problems were brewing and for weak performance agreements that did not require detailed breakdowns of results from the complex web or ORNGE subsidiaries.
Ontario Integrity Commissioner Lynn Morrison told the hearing Thursday that Alfred Apps, former Fasken Martineau lawyer, should have registered as a lobbyist at Queen’s Park. His role in trying to set up meetings with government staffers was committee fodder for days.
Apps, former president of the Liberal Party of Canada, was Fasken’s key corporate adviser at ORNGE. Fasken billed 22,000 hours on the ORNGE file at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $10 million.
What has been discovered at ORNGE has stunned even the most cynical political observer.
Founder Dr. Chris Mazza was described as a “passionate visionary” but one with a quick temper and domineering attitude.
Health Minister Deb Matthews testified Mazza refused to meet with her, that he stonewalled the auditor as he tried to investigate, that he refused to disclose his salary and that he “manipulated patient transfer numbers” to her ministry.
It took the threats of two legislative warrants to finally bring Mazza before the opposition dominated probe. Doctors had said he was too fragile to testify.
When he did appear on July 18 he alternated between quiet whimpers, irritated defiance, and frequently blamed his memory loss on events due to the 2006 death of his son and an unidentified “sickness.”
Gelinas and the rest of the probe was “absolutely astounded” on Wednesday after listening to the latest round of revelations from ex-board chair Rainer Beltzner — a Porsche-race car driving chartered accountant who pocketed $200,000 in compensation.
He testified Wednesday that Mazza knew full well his compensation was at least $1.4 million last year — contrary to Mazza’s testimony that he didn’t have a hand in deciding his salary — and that the physician had a private company that had a contract with ORNGE.
When Beltzner found this out he also discovered, “Dr. Mazza was not, in fact, providing any of the services, nor were they required.” Further more, payments were demanded by Mazza and they were made without invoices, Beltzner testified.
Perhaps most surprising was Beltzner’s admission he knew ORNGE paid millions in unnecessary fees to Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland, Klees said.
“He saw a document that confirmed it was not necessary for ORNGE to pay the additional $6.7 million for the upgrades to Agusta but it was paid, nevertheless,” Klees told the Star.
ORNGE bought 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland for $144 million in 2008 and shortly afterwards, ORNGE received a $4.7 million marketing services contract with another $2 million contract in the works, the Star has previously reported. The Ontario Provincial Police is investigating the deal.
Beltzner’s daughter, Carrie Anne Brunet worked on the marketing contract at ORNGE with Kelly Long. However Beltzner testified he didn’t know his daughter was working on the agreement.
Long, a former water-ski instructor and a York University graduate, was Mazza’s girlfriend. How she became employed at ORNGE and quickly rose through the ranks to become an associate vice-president occupied hours of committee time.
Throughout it all, McGuinty has defended Matthews. On Thursday while in Kitchener, the premier called on politicians from all parties to move forward legislation, “that gives the government additional oversight on these organizations.”
McGuinty also acknowledged McCarter was correct. “The auditor said we failed to provide the necessary oversight over ORNGE. I accept that. We have learned our lesson there.”
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
ORNGE investigation: Whistle-blower suspended after testifying at probe
Published on Sunday August 05, 2012
Kevin Donovan and Tanya Talaga
Staff Reporters
A whistleblower pilot who has been a thorn in the side of ORNGE management past and present has been suspended following his testimony at a Queen’s Park committee probing the troubled air ambulance service.
Veteran helicopter pilot Bruce Wade was suspended with pay Thursday along with another unnamed ORNGE employee. Both work out of the Thunder Bay regional centre.
Wade would not agree to be interviewed by the Star for this story.
An ORNGE insider said “the optics are terrible,” referring to a suspension coming two days after testimony that savaged both the old ORNGE bosses and took shots at the system now in place. The insider said the suspension was in the works prior to testimony and came because a Thunder Bay ORNGE airplane pilot (ORNGE has both helicopters and airplanes) had filed complaints against Wade raising “health and safety issues” which, under an agreement with ORNGE unions, had to be investigated.
The insider referred to Wade as a “good pilot with a good record.” Wade has been a chopper pilot since 1995 and began flying for ORNGE’s predecessor service in 2001.
An external investigation team is being sent to Thunder Bay to probe the complaints, which the source refused to describe.
On Tuesday, Wade told the committee he was thankful the executive “sycophants” at ORNGE were gone.
“Across our system we rejoiced when the auditor delved further into ORNGE. It was then we thought reasonable people would step in and stop all helicopter pilot and engineer transfers into ORNGE once it became evident just how bad things really were,” Wade said.
Wade was referring to the decision to transfer all human and mechanical assets from Canadian Helicopters Ltd., which used to provide choppers and pilots under a contract with ORNGE, to the new ORNGE. That was a decision spearheaded by founder Dr. Chris Mazza.
Wade and others in the system believe ORNGE delivered a better service when it contracted to an experienced helicopter company. Today at ORNGE, the Star has found, there are few people experienced in running the aviation side of the service.
Wade told the probe there was a “management culture of fear and intimidation that was rampant in the (old) ORNGE system.”
“To give the committee a sense of the front-line reality, I want to quote some of my colleagues. From a medic: ‘Give ’em hell at the committee about Thunder Bay. We in northwestern Ontario are tired of being treated like the red-headed stepchild.’ ”
Wade read into the committee record statements from half a dozen ORNGE staff who work in the north and are currently fed up with the lack of equipment and staff. Often, vast areas of northern Ontario are left with no trauma helicopter service, they say.
Wade’s complaints centre on “down staffing” — not having enough pilots on duty to launch in an emergency. He told the committee “a trauma helicopter continually grounded without medics is unconscionable and, some would argue, negligent.”
“I fly medevac for very personal reasons. If even one death occurs because no helicopter can respond from a lack of proper staffing, and a coroner’s inquest is called, I can take comfort in knowing that I tried, for the best interests of Ontario, and my conscience is clear. I’ll be able to look myself in the mirror and know I’ve done everything I possibly can to restore helicopter ambulance service to the northwestern Ontario region,” he testified.
Wade and his colleagues put together a series of recommendations but so far none of them has been implemented, he added. The list was given to interim CEO Ron McKerlie after a meeting in February, he said.
Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees called the suspension “not a good signal” to those who come forward.
“We are all going to be very interested in knowing what was behind the suspension. Many will come to the conclusion it is tied to the testimony,” he said.
Health Minister Deb Matthews has consistently said after Mazza and the rest of the executives were let go, the culture at ORNGE had changed.
The suspension seems to fly in the face of that claim, Klees said.
“This pilot had the courage to come forward and say what the front lines were facing,” he added.
ORNGE insiders say a decision was made to let Wade testify before suspending him so as “not to in any way affect Bruce’s testimony.”
The identity of the airplane pilot who complained about Wade has not been disclosed.
ORNGE’s McKerlie said in a statement that the investigation into Wade has nothing to do with his testimony.
“ORNGE supports the work of the committee and encourages any employee called upon to testify to co-operate fully,” McKerlie said.
Wade’s union spokesman, Paul Bohelski, believes the complaint was an attempt by a “quasi-management employee” to discredit the veteran pilot.
“Considering the consummate professional Mr. Wade is, we are confident he will be exonerated of any wrongdoing through his due process rights. Should the company take further action against Mr. Wade, the OPEIU stands ready to vigorously defend him against any adverse employment action that may follow.”
The union, the Office and Professional Employees International Union, represents all airplane and helicopter pilots and aircraft engineers at ORNGE.
Published on Sunday August 05, 2012
Kevin Donovan and Tanya Talaga
Staff Reporters
A whistleblower pilot who has been a thorn in the side of ORNGE management past and present has been suspended following his testimony at a Queen’s Park committee probing the troubled air ambulance service.
Veteran helicopter pilot Bruce Wade was suspended with pay Thursday along with another unnamed ORNGE employee. Both work out of the Thunder Bay regional centre.
Wade would not agree to be interviewed by the Star for this story.
An ORNGE insider said “the optics are terrible,” referring to a suspension coming two days after testimony that savaged both the old ORNGE bosses and took shots at the system now in place. The insider said the suspension was in the works prior to testimony and came because a Thunder Bay ORNGE airplane pilot (ORNGE has both helicopters and airplanes) had filed complaints against Wade raising “health and safety issues” which, under an agreement with ORNGE unions, had to be investigated.
The insider referred to Wade as a “good pilot with a good record.” Wade has been a chopper pilot since 1995 and began flying for ORNGE’s predecessor service in 2001.
An external investigation team is being sent to Thunder Bay to probe the complaints, which the source refused to describe.
On Tuesday, Wade told the committee he was thankful the executive “sycophants” at ORNGE were gone.
“Across our system we rejoiced when the auditor delved further into ORNGE. It was then we thought reasonable people would step in and stop all helicopter pilot and engineer transfers into ORNGE once it became evident just how bad things really were,” Wade said.
Wade was referring to the decision to transfer all human and mechanical assets from Canadian Helicopters Ltd., which used to provide choppers and pilots under a contract with ORNGE, to the new ORNGE. That was a decision spearheaded by founder Dr. Chris Mazza.
Wade and others in the system believe ORNGE delivered a better service when it contracted to an experienced helicopter company. Today at ORNGE, the Star has found, there are few people experienced in running the aviation side of the service.
Wade told the probe there was a “management culture of fear and intimidation that was rampant in the (old) ORNGE system.”
“To give the committee a sense of the front-line reality, I want to quote some of my colleagues. From a medic: ‘Give ’em hell at the committee about Thunder Bay. We in northwestern Ontario are tired of being treated like the red-headed stepchild.’ ”
Wade read into the committee record statements from half a dozen ORNGE staff who work in the north and are currently fed up with the lack of equipment and staff. Often, vast areas of northern Ontario are left with no trauma helicopter service, they say.
Wade’s complaints centre on “down staffing” — not having enough pilots on duty to launch in an emergency. He told the committee “a trauma helicopter continually grounded without medics is unconscionable and, some would argue, negligent.”
“I fly medevac for very personal reasons. If even one death occurs because no helicopter can respond from a lack of proper staffing, and a coroner’s inquest is called, I can take comfort in knowing that I tried, for the best interests of Ontario, and my conscience is clear. I’ll be able to look myself in the mirror and know I’ve done everything I possibly can to restore helicopter ambulance service to the northwestern Ontario region,” he testified.
Wade and his colleagues put together a series of recommendations but so far none of them has been implemented, he added. The list was given to interim CEO Ron McKerlie after a meeting in February, he said.
Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees called the suspension “not a good signal” to those who come forward.
“We are all going to be very interested in knowing what was behind the suspension. Many will come to the conclusion it is tied to the testimony,” he said.
Health Minister Deb Matthews has consistently said after Mazza and the rest of the executives were let go, the culture at ORNGE had changed.
The suspension seems to fly in the face of that claim, Klees said.
“This pilot had the courage to come forward and say what the front lines were facing,” he added.
ORNGE insiders say a decision was made to let Wade testify before suspending him so as “not to in any way affect Bruce’s testimony.”
The identity of the airplane pilot who complained about Wade has not been disclosed.
ORNGE’s McKerlie said in a statement that the investigation into Wade has nothing to do with his testimony.
“ORNGE supports the work of the committee and encourages any employee called upon to testify to co-operate fully,” McKerlie said.
Wade’s union spokesman, Paul Bohelski, believes the complaint was an attempt by a “quasi-management employee” to discredit the veteran pilot.
“Considering the consummate professional Mr. Wade is, we are confident he will be exonerated of any wrongdoing through his due process rights. Should the company take further action against Mr. Wade, the OPEIU stands ready to vigorously defend him against any adverse employment action that may follow.”
The union, the Office and Professional Employees International Union, represents all airplane and helicopter pilots and aircraft engineers at ORNGE.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Kind of on topics. Just keep in mind you find this kind of Communism (take from the worker, giving to the Party elites) all over the government, police, fire,and ambulance. Managers and "administrators" in these units are all on the sunshine list.
http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistl ... id=2309989
B.C. cities pay top officials more than White House does
Why be Obama’s chief of staff when you can make far more managing White Rock?
…
Earning a paltry $172,200 a year, Lew’s salary pales in comparison to George Duncan, the chief administrative officer of — wait for it — Richmond, B.C., who pocketed a cool $267,613 in 2010/11 for keeping the lights on in that Lower Mainland suburb.
And Duncan’s salary isn’t even an anomaly. The chief administrative officers or city managers of cities such as Delta, North Vancouver (City and District), Kelowna, Maple Ridge, West Vancouver, Burnaby, Kamloops, Langley City, Pitt Meadows, White Rock, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria all earned more than the White House chief of staff last year, according to the Vancouver Sun’s Public Sector Salaries database.
In fact, according to the 30 cities covered by the Vancouver Sun’s database, 116 municipal employees in B.C. earned more than Obama’s chief of staff; 17 of TransLink’s top breadwinners pulled in more than poor old Lew as well.
The overall winner of the B.C. City Hall Pay Sweepstakes? Penny Ballem, Vancouver’s city manager, who banked a tidy $324,110, nearly double Lew’s salary.
…
And gold-plated municipal salaries aren’t just “a big city” phenomenon in B.C.
In the Town of Lillooet, the chief administrative officer is paid $120,316 annually to keep an eye on 2,322 local residents.
Or put another way: it costs each taxpayer in Lillooet roughly $110 to keep their CAO living in comfort, not even taking into account all of the other town employees they must pay for as well.
Now compare that Lillooet salary to Obama’s principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest, described by the Washington Post as a key member of Obama’s message team, who makes $123,000 a year at his White House gig and is perpetually a slip of the tongue away from igniting an international incident.
Still keeping Josh Earnest’s pay in mind, consider the plight of Victoria’s hard-hit taxpayers.
In the capital city alone, there are 24 city employees who make more than Obama’s deputy press secretary; this in a city where the average wage earner pulls in less than $40,000 per year
http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistl ... id=2309989
B.C. cities pay top officials more than White House does
Why be Obama’s chief of staff when you can make far more managing White Rock?
…
Earning a paltry $172,200 a year, Lew’s salary pales in comparison to George Duncan, the chief administrative officer of — wait for it — Richmond, B.C., who pocketed a cool $267,613 in 2010/11 for keeping the lights on in that Lower Mainland suburb.
And Duncan’s salary isn’t even an anomaly. The chief administrative officers or city managers of cities such as Delta, North Vancouver (City and District), Kelowna, Maple Ridge, West Vancouver, Burnaby, Kamloops, Langley City, Pitt Meadows, White Rock, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria all earned more than the White House chief of staff last year, according to the Vancouver Sun’s Public Sector Salaries database.
In fact, according to the 30 cities covered by the Vancouver Sun’s database, 116 municipal employees in B.C. earned more than Obama’s chief of staff; 17 of TransLink’s top breadwinners pulled in more than poor old Lew as well.
The overall winner of the B.C. City Hall Pay Sweepstakes? Penny Ballem, Vancouver’s city manager, who banked a tidy $324,110, nearly double Lew’s salary.
…
And gold-plated municipal salaries aren’t just “a big city” phenomenon in B.C.
In the Town of Lillooet, the chief administrative officer is paid $120,316 annually to keep an eye on 2,322 local residents.
Or put another way: it costs each taxpayer in Lillooet roughly $110 to keep their CAO living in comfort, not even taking into account all of the other town employees they must pay for as well.
Now compare that Lillooet salary to Obama’s principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest, described by the Washington Post as a key member of Obama’s message team, who makes $123,000 a year at his White House gig and is perpetually a slip of the tongue away from igniting an international incident.
Still keeping Josh Earnest’s pay in mind, consider the plight of Victoria’s hard-hit taxpayers.
In the capital city alone, there are 24 city employees who make more than Obama’s deputy press secretary; this in a city where the average wage earner pulls in less than $40,000 per year
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Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Are pilot and engineers part of the group at Ornge who's salaries are not reported? You'd think the 2 Chief pilots would be on the list.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
According to Ontario law salaries under 100k do not need to be reported. I'm guessing that none of the pilots made more than 100k. There are three aviation positions listed on the first page. I'm not sure if those are fancy titles for chief pilots or not.
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Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
They are not. James Feeley holds an ame ticket and is responsible for the amo and the aoc.FlyGy wrote: There are three aviation positions listed on the first page. I'm not sure if those are fancy titles for chief pilots or not.
I think the salary disclosure illustrates quite well how much the Air Ambulance Service values the contribution of its pilots and engineers.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
I would agree DR, but another possibility is that the actual aviation side was run as one of the "for profit" entities. I'm not sure how the convoluted web of foundations, for profit companies, and not for profit companies were intertwined, but I think I heard somewhere along that line that the aircraft in use by ORNGE were actually leased from one of their for profit companies.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
I thought this was interesting..From their official website..Anyone else notice a bit of history missing?
History
The history of Ornge began in 1977 when the Province of Ontario established a helicopter-based aero-medical program at Toronto’s Buttonville Airport associated with Sunnybrook Hospital. That same year, the Ministry of Health developed and implemented a training system for flight paramedics who perform advanced life support and controlled medical acts during air transport.
After more than two decades of service, the program grew to include a variety of aircraft at a number of bases and associated with a number of medical facilities across Ontario. In 2002, base hospitals in Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Timmins and Toronto were amalgamated under the Ontario Air Ambulance Base Hospital Program.
On October 8, 2004, Ornge was incorporated under the name “Ontario Air Ambulance Services Co.” (“OAASC”) in the Canada Corporations Act.
In July 2005 the government of Ontario announced the appointment of OAASC to coordinate all aspects Ontario's air ambulance services.
The organization changed its name to Ornge in 2006. Ornge is not an acronym. Instead the unique name was adopted to reflect the well-recognized colour of Ornge’s distinctive vehicles.
In June 2007, the Province of Ontario proclaimed the Health Systems Improvement Act (“Bill 171”), which enabled the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to designate Ornge for the purpose of providing or ensuring the provision of land ambulance services under regulation 497/07 of the Ambulance Act. In response to Bill 171, Ornge designed and created a highly integrated and controlled land and air inter-facility transport system and became one of the only Canadian transport medicine providers to earn accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems in all three modes of transport – helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and land ambulances.
On January 14, 2008, Ornge launched its first critical care inter-facility land transport program in Ottawa. Additional programs were added in Peterborough and Toronto in the summer of 2008. In addition, after months of specialized education and training, Ornge also launched a dedicated paediatric transport team in Ottawa in the summer of 2009. This team consists of highly educated and trained paramedics and nurses who will provide transports for some of the youngest and most vulnerable patients in Ontario.
History
The history of Ornge began in 1977 when the Province of Ontario established a helicopter-based aero-medical program at Toronto’s Buttonville Airport associated with Sunnybrook Hospital. That same year, the Ministry of Health developed and implemented a training system for flight paramedics who perform advanced life support and controlled medical acts during air transport.
After more than two decades of service, the program grew to include a variety of aircraft at a number of bases and associated with a number of medical facilities across Ontario. In 2002, base hospitals in Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Timmins and Toronto were amalgamated under the Ontario Air Ambulance Base Hospital Program.
On October 8, 2004, Ornge was incorporated under the name “Ontario Air Ambulance Services Co.” (“OAASC”) in the Canada Corporations Act.
In July 2005 the government of Ontario announced the appointment of OAASC to coordinate all aspects Ontario's air ambulance services.
The organization changed its name to Ornge in 2006. Ornge is not an acronym. Instead the unique name was adopted to reflect the well-recognized colour of Ornge’s distinctive vehicles.
In June 2007, the Province of Ontario proclaimed the Health Systems Improvement Act (“Bill 171”), which enabled the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to designate Ornge for the purpose of providing or ensuring the provision of land ambulance services under regulation 497/07 of the Ambulance Act. In response to Bill 171, Ornge designed and created a highly integrated and controlled land and air inter-facility transport system and became one of the only Canadian transport medicine providers to earn accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems in all three modes of transport – helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and land ambulances.
On January 14, 2008, Ornge launched its first critical care inter-facility land transport program in Ottawa. Additional programs were added in Peterborough and Toronto in the summer of 2008. In addition, after months of specialized education and training, Ornge also launched a dedicated paediatric transport team in Ottawa in the summer of 2009. This team consists of highly educated and trained paramedics and nurses who will provide transports for some of the youngest and most vulnerable patients in Ontario.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
Office of the Chief Coroner establishes an Expert Panel to review deaths involving air ambulance transport by ORNGE
August 15, 2012 9:00 AM
Dr. Andrew McCallum, Chief Coroner for Ontario has announced that the Patient Safety Review Committee of the Office of the Chief Coroner will establish an Expert Panel to review deaths in which issues pertaining to air ambulance transport by ORNGE may have affected the outcome. The aim of this Review will be to learn from the circumstances of these deaths in order to make recommendations, if appropriate, to ensure that the best possible care is provided by our air ambulance system.
The Office of the Chief Coroner initially reviewed a number of deaths and found that none of them appeared to have been materially affected by issues pertaining to air ambulance transport. Since then, additional deaths have been identified. A systematic approach has now been developed to identify all known deaths from January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2012, where there are relevant concerns. A panel comprised of experts in air ambulance, pre-hospital care and emergency medicine is being established to comprehensively review all such cases.
The exact number of deaths that will be reviewed has not yet been finalized.
The Expert Panel will provide their opinion as to whether or not issues pertaining to air ambulance transport had any impact on the outcome in each case, and may make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths in future.
This panel will be chaired by Dr. Craig Muir, Regional Supervising Coroner - Sudbury. Dr. Muir is a former Chief of Surgery with expertise in emergency surgery and trauma. Other members of the expert panel include:
Dr. Dan Cass, Deputy Chief Coroner, Investigations - Dr. Cass is a former emergency physician and Chief of Emergency Medicine with expertise in emergency care and trauma management, and is the Chair of the Patient Safety Review Committee of the Office of the Chief Coroner
Dr. Jonathan Dreyer - Dr. Dreyer is an emergency physician and former Chief of Emergency Medicine at London Health Sciences Centre with expertise in emergency care and trauma management.
Dr. John Tallon - Dr. Tallon is an emergency physician and past president of the Trauma Association of Canada and is currently the Vice President of Medical Programs, Emergency and Health Services Commission in British Columbia which includes BC Ambulance, BC Bedline and the BC Trauma Program.
The Expert Panel is expected to deliver its report to the Patient Safety Review Committee and the Chief Coroner in the late fall of 2012. The findings and any recommendations from the Review will be made publicly available.
Expert reviews are just one way in which the Office of the Chief Coroner delivers its public safety mandate. For more information on Ontario's death investigation system, please visit: www.ontario.ca/safety.
August 15, 2012 9:00 AM
Dr. Andrew McCallum, Chief Coroner for Ontario has announced that the Patient Safety Review Committee of the Office of the Chief Coroner will establish an Expert Panel to review deaths in which issues pertaining to air ambulance transport by ORNGE may have affected the outcome. The aim of this Review will be to learn from the circumstances of these deaths in order to make recommendations, if appropriate, to ensure that the best possible care is provided by our air ambulance system.
The Office of the Chief Coroner initially reviewed a number of deaths and found that none of them appeared to have been materially affected by issues pertaining to air ambulance transport. Since then, additional deaths have been identified. A systematic approach has now been developed to identify all known deaths from January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2012, where there are relevant concerns. A panel comprised of experts in air ambulance, pre-hospital care and emergency medicine is being established to comprehensively review all such cases.
The exact number of deaths that will be reviewed has not yet been finalized.
The Expert Panel will provide their opinion as to whether or not issues pertaining to air ambulance transport had any impact on the outcome in each case, and may make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths in future.
This panel will be chaired by Dr. Craig Muir, Regional Supervising Coroner - Sudbury. Dr. Muir is a former Chief of Surgery with expertise in emergency surgery and trauma. Other members of the expert panel include:
Dr. Dan Cass, Deputy Chief Coroner, Investigations - Dr. Cass is a former emergency physician and Chief of Emergency Medicine with expertise in emergency care and trauma management, and is the Chair of the Patient Safety Review Committee of the Office of the Chief Coroner
Dr. Jonathan Dreyer - Dr. Dreyer is an emergency physician and former Chief of Emergency Medicine at London Health Sciences Centre with expertise in emergency care and trauma management.
Dr. John Tallon - Dr. Tallon is an emergency physician and past president of the Trauma Association of Canada and is currently the Vice President of Medical Programs, Emergency and Health Services Commission in British Columbia which includes BC Ambulance, BC Bedline and the BC Trauma Program.
The Expert Panel is expected to deliver its report to the Patient Safety Review Committee and the Chief Coroner in the late fall of 2012. The findings and any recommendations from the Review will be made publicly available.
Expert reviews are just one way in which the Office of the Chief Coroner delivers its public safety mandate. For more information on Ontario's death investigation system, please visit: www.ontario.ca/safety.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
ORNGE: Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty won’t testify at ORNGE hearings
Kevin Donovan
Staff Reporter
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has snubbed the ORNGE committee’s call to testify.
The Queen’s Park committee probing the publicly funded air ambulance service wanted McGuinty to explain what was discussed at up to three meetings founder Dr. Chris Mazza said he had with the premier.
The Premier’s Office told the committee Friday that McGuinty was “unavailable” next Wednesday when the committee had asked him to appear. A spokesperson said Health Minister Deb Matthews has been answering questions for the government, and that is sufficient.
“Why is the premier not willing to answer questions about what he knew and when he knew it?” asked Conservative MPP Frank Klees, who has led questioning at the committee probing the ORNGE scandal. “Not agreeing to testify shows disrespect for the parliamentary committee process.”
The premier’s spokesperson, Neala Barton, said McGuinty will be tied up at cabinet meetings Wednesday, but is “eager to hear the committee’s recommendations so we can continue improving air ambulance services in Ontario.”
Barton said Matthews has appeared three times at the committee and will appear again if asked.
The ORNGE committee at Queen’s Park was convened after a Toronto Star investigation exposed widespread problems and financial side deals at ORNGE, which receives $150 million a year to move sick and injured patients around the province.
In several months of testimony the committee has explored the corporate, government and legal hijinks behind Mazza’s dream of building a world class air ambulance service. The politics of ORNGE have been touched on: former health minister George Smitherman helped Mazza create ORNGE and prominent federal Liberal Alf Apps, an ORNGE lawyer, joined ORNGE in briefing provincial officials on its myriad plans. The committee has also heard from Don Guy, chair of McGuinty’s last three successful election campaigns, who at a time when he was not working for the government billed ORNGE’s law firm (where Apps worked) $107,877 for consultancy work related to the air ambulance service.
But committee members have been unable to probe further into the politics of ORNGE. Klees noted that Mazza testified he had met McGuinty three times and the committee wants to know what McGuinty thought of the former emergency room doctor’s dreams and schemes.
Last spring, McGuinty told the legislature his only meeting with Mazza was when the ORNGE boss guided him on an emergency evacuation tour in Northern Ontario in 2005.
“That’s my only connection with Chris Mazza,” McGuinty told the legislature in April. In answer to another question in the legislature McGuinty said that he has met thousands of people at receptions and it is possible that on another occasion, Mazza was one of them.
One witness at the hearing produced an email from Apps after a Liberal fundraiser, where Mazza has said he met with McGuinty.
“Last nite (sic) worked perfectly,” said the email from Apps, dated June 20, 2007. “Chris was able to make a real connection with the premier, and to lay out the success story of ORNGE at a high level in a way that provides the groundwork of our entire initiative.
“Once we have massaged the game plan past the minister of health, I will organize a follow-up private dinner for Chris with the premier so that he can outline the vision and the game plan in greater detail,” the email said.
The provincial Auditor General, whose report the committee has studied, has criticized the provincial government for poor oversight. As problems at ORNGE grew, provincial officials did nothing. A January 2011 briefing note to top officials, including several in the offices of the premier and the health minister, laid out plans for the for-profit scheme that was ultimately the undoing of Mazza and ORNGE. The committee wants to ask McGuinty what he knew about it.
“We’ll continue our call for the premier to appear,” Klees said. “There are far too many unanswered questions about what the premier and his office knew about this affair. The longer he resists the call to testify, the more we have reason to believe there’s something to hide.”
The ORNGE committee, which has already heard from 54 witnesses, is able to resume hearings earlier than expected because the Liberals have recalled the legislature to vote on a bill to freeze teacher wages.
A full day of hearings is set for Wednesday and McGuinty was to be Witness # 55. So far, the only person confirmed for Wednesday is a former Mazza assistant, Jay Lebo.
When Mazza finally testified it was after previous refusals due to medical reasons. Ultimately, a rare Speaker’s Warrant was issued by the Speaker of the legislature, something that a committee insider says could not be done in the case of a premier.
Previous statements by McGuinty have shown he was eager for people to testify at the ORNGE probe.
“I know our committee members have a lot of questions,” McGuinty said shortly before Mazza testified. “They are interested in putting (questions) to Dr. Mazza and I think it’s an opportunity for us to get to the bottom of a lot of things, which, but for his testimony, would be very difficult for us to ascertain.”
Kevin Donovan
Staff Reporter
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has snubbed the ORNGE committee’s call to testify.
The Queen’s Park committee probing the publicly funded air ambulance service wanted McGuinty to explain what was discussed at up to three meetings founder Dr. Chris Mazza said he had with the premier.
The Premier’s Office told the committee Friday that McGuinty was “unavailable” next Wednesday when the committee had asked him to appear. A spokesperson said Health Minister Deb Matthews has been answering questions for the government, and that is sufficient.
“Why is the premier not willing to answer questions about what he knew and when he knew it?” asked Conservative MPP Frank Klees, who has led questioning at the committee probing the ORNGE scandal. “Not agreeing to testify shows disrespect for the parliamentary committee process.”
The premier’s spokesperson, Neala Barton, said McGuinty will be tied up at cabinet meetings Wednesday, but is “eager to hear the committee’s recommendations so we can continue improving air ambulance services in Ontario.”
Barton said Matthews has appeared three times at the committee and will appear again if asked.
The ORNGE committee at Queen’s Park was convened after a Toronto Star investigation exposed widespread problems and financial side deals at ORNGE, which receives $150 million a year to move sick and injured patients around the province.
In several months of testimony the committee has explored the corporate, government and legal hijinks behind Mazza’s dream of building a world class air ambulance service. The politics of ORNGE have been touched on: former health minister George Smitherman helped Mazza create ORNGE and prominent federal Liberal Alf Apps, an ORNGE lawyer, joined ORNGE in briefing provincial officials on its myriad plans. The committee has also heard from Don Guy, chair of McGuinty’s last three successful election campaigns, who at a time when he was not working for the government billed ORNGE’s law firm (where Apps worked) $107,877 for consultancy work related to the air ambulance service.
But committee members have been unable to probe further into the politics of ORNGE. Klees noted that Mazza testified he had met McGuinty three times and the committee wants to know what McGuinty thought of the former emergency room doctor’s dreams and schemes.
Last spring, McGuinty told the legislature his only meeting with Mazza was when the ORNGE boss guided him on an emergency evacuation tour in Northern Ontario in 2005.
“That’s my only connection with Chris Mazza,” McGuinty told the legislature in April. In answer to another question in the legislature McGuinty said that he has met thousands of people at receptions and it is possible that on another occasion, Mazza was one of them.
One witness at the hearing produced an email from Apps after a Liberal fundraiser, where Mazza has said he met with McGuinty.
“Last nite (sic) worked perfectly,” said the email from Apps, dated June 20, 2007. “Chris was able to make a real connection with the premier, and to lay out the success story of ORNGE at a high level in a way that provides the groundwork of our entire initiative.
“Once we have massaged the game plan past the minister of health, I will organize a follow-up private dinner for Chris with the premier so that he can outline the vision and the game plan in greater detail,” the email said.
The provincial Auditor General, whose report the committee has studied, has criticized the provincial government for poor oversight. As problems at ORNGE grew, provincial officials did nothing. A January 2011 briefing note to top officials, including several in the offices of the premier and the health minister, laid out plans for the for-profit scheme that was ultimately the undoing of Mazza and ORNGE. The committee wants to ask McGuinty what he knew about it.
“We’ll continue our call for the premier to appear,” Klees said. “There are far too many unanswered questions about what the premier and his office knew about this affair. The longer he resists the call to testify, the more we have reason to believe there’s something to hide.”
The ORNGE committee, which has already heard from 54 witnesses, is able to resume hearings earlier than expected because the Liberals have recalled the legislature to vote on a bill to freeze teacher wages.
A full day of hearings is set for Wednesday and McGuinty was to be Witness # 55. So far, the only person confirmed for Wednesday is a former Mazza assistant, Jay Lebo.
When Mazza finally testified it was after previous refusals due to medical reasons. Ultimately, a rare Speaker’s Warrant was issued by the Speaker of the legislature, something that a committee insider says could not be done in the case of a premier.
Previous statements by McGuinty have shown he was eager for people to testify at the ORNGE probe.
“I know our committee members have a lot of questions,” McGuinty said shortly before Mazza testified. “They are interested in putting (questions) to Dr. Mazza and I think it’s an opportunity for us to get to the bottom of a lot of things, which, but for his testimony, would be very difficult for us to ascertain.”
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
ORNGE: Former Mazza aide tells probe he was told to mislead auditors with false documents
Published on Wednesday August 29, 2012
Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie
Queen's Park Bureau
The former executive aide to Dr. Chris Mazza at ORNGE testified he was ordered to create “illegal” false documents to mislead auditors probing the scandal-plagued air ambulance service.
Jay Lebo dropped the bombshell about his former boss as legislative committee hearings into the operation -- now under criminal investigation -- resumed Wednesday after a short summer break.
“There were plenty of secrets at ORNGE,” said Lebo, whose testimony overshadowed Premier Dalton McGuinty’s refusal to appear at the hearing to answer questions about his own meetings with Mazza.
“I was instructed to create false information for the auditors,” Lebo added during a dramatic exchange with MPPs, fingering deposed ORNGE chief executive Mazza and former vice-president Maria Renzella for the controversial order.
“To the best of my recollection the auditors were asking for the business justification for a number of expenses and I was asked to write the business justifications and to back-date them,” stated Lebo, who told the hearing room he was fired two years ago because “I dissented too much.”
“I wrote business justifications, but I did not back-date them.”
Lebo, who has a master’s degree in business administration and is now self-employed, said he does not know what happened after that.
“It was never mentioned again. When I delivered the documents to Ms. Renzella they were in the form of an electronic Word document. If she wanted the date changed, she could have done so herself.”
ORNGE officials declined specific comment on Lebo’s revelations.
“The allegations raised at today’s public accounts hearing relate to individuals who are no longer with the organization,” spokesman James MacDonald said in a statement.
“As there is an ongoing investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police, ORNGE management encourages anyone with information to forward it to the OPP.”
When Mazza testified before the committee in July, he maintained under intense questioning that he did nothing wrong during his tenure.
His job ended abruptly last winter when he was terminated after his $1.4 million salary, questionable business practices at ORNGE and patient safety issues were revealed in an investigative series in the Star.
Lebo, who later served as manager of the Toronto air ambulance base, said the documents he was asked to write “was the only time I was asked to do something illegal. It was not the only time I was asked to do something morally wrong.”
He then recounted how he was ordered to fire a unionized paramedic who lived too far away from his base of operations and to “lie” to paramedics when the overtime budget got too high, denying vacations to curb the overtime but saying it was to meet “operational requirements.”
Tory MPP Frank Klees said Lebo’s 90-minute testimony contradicts many others who have appeared.
“This is damning evidence today,” Klees (Newmarket-Aurora) said. “A lot of people…deny they did anything wrong or knew anything.”
Klees said McGuinty displayed “arrogance” by refusing to testify at the hearings into the ORNGE air ambulance scandal, holding a photo-op at a school instead.
“The more the premier refuses to appear…the more questions we have,” said Klees, suggesting McGuinty is afraid to reveal information that could hurt Liberal chances in two crucial by-elections next Thursday in Vaughan and Kitchener-Waterloo.
“What is he hiding? Who is he protecting?”
McGuinty shrugged off his decision to skip testifying before MPPs probingthe debacle at the air ambulance service.
He said Health Minister Deb Matthews has appeared before the committee three times to answer questions about ORNGE, which receives $150 million a year from taxpayers.
“That responsibility, of course, lies with the minister,” McGuinty told reporters at a west-end school, calling the committee to make recommendations for improving ORNGE.
Klees said McGuinty now has the dubious distinction of joiningChris Mazza in refusing to testify before the committee — although Mazza subsequently appeared after a warrant was issued by the speaker of the legislature.
However, the premier is immune to such warrants.
“There is a difference between myself and Dr. Mazza…he doesn’t appear in this legislature on a regular basis for question period. I do,” McGuinty said under fire from Klees in the House.
The premier said he’d like to get support from the opposition parties in passing ORNGE reform legislation based in large part on recommendations from Auditor General Jim McCarter on tightening control over the air ambulance service.
“They stalled that for five months, so I think they’ve done some good work, let’s get those recommendations and let’s move forward,” McGuinty urged.
When Mazza finally testified in July after health delays, he told MPPs he met with the premier three times.
McGuinty has told the legislature his only meeting with Mazza was when the doctor guided him on an emergency evacuation tour in northern Ontario in 2005.
Published on Wednesday August 29, 2012
Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie
Queen's Park Bureau
The former executive aide to Dr. Chris Mazza at ORNGE testified he was ordered to create “illegal” false documents to mislead auditors probing the scandal-plagued air ambulance service.
Jay Lebo dropped the bombshell about his former boss as legislative committee hearings into the operation -- now under criminal investigation -- resumed Wednesday after a short summer break.
“There were plenty of secrets at ORNGE,” said Lebo, whose testimony overshadowed Premier Dalton McGuinty’s refusal to appear at the hearing to answer questions about his own meetings with Mazza.
“I was instructed to create false information for the auditors,” Lebo added during a dramatic exchange with MPPs, fingering deposed ORNGE chief executive Mazza and former vice-president Maria Renzella for the controversial order.
“To the best of my recollection the auditors were asking for the business justification for a number of expenses and I was asked to write the business justifications and to back-date them,” stated Lebo, who told the hearing room he was fired two years ago because “I dissented too much.”
“I wrote business justifications, but I did not back-date them.”
Lebo, who has a master’s degree in business administration and is now self-employed, said he does not know what happened after that.
“It was never mentioned again. When I delivered the documents to Ms. Renzella they were in the form of an electronic Word document. If she wanted the date changed, she could have done so herself.”
ORNGE officials declined specific comment on Lebo’s revelations.
“The allegations raised at today’s public accounts hearing relate to individuals who are no longer with the organization,” spokesman James MacDonald said in a statement.
“As there is an ongoing investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police, ORNGE management encourages anyone with information to forward it to the OPP.”
When Mazza testified before the committee in July, he maintained under intense questioning that he did nothing wrong during his tenure.
His job ended abruptly last winter when he was terminated after his $1.4 million salary, questionable business practices at ORNGE and patient safety issues were revealed in an investigative series in the Star.
Lebo, who later served as manager of the Toronto air ambulance base, said the documents he was asked to write “was the only time I was asked to do something illegal. It was not the only time I was asked to do something morally wrong.”
He then recounted how he was ordered to fire a unionized paramedic who lived too far away from his base of operations and to “lie” to paramedics when the overtime budget got too high, denying vacations to curb the overtime but saying it was to meet “operational requirements.”
Tory MPP Frank Klees said Lebo’s 90-minute testimony contradicts many others who have appeared.
“This is damning evidence today,” Klees (Newmarket-Aurora) said. “A lot of people…deny they did anything wrong or knew anything.”
Klees said McGuinty displayed “arrogance” by refusing to testify at the hearings into the ORNGE air ambulance scandal, holding a photo-op at a school instead.
“The more the premier refuses to appear…the more questions we have,” said Klees, suggesting McGuinty is afraid to reveal information that could hurt Liberal chances in two crucial by-elections next Thursday in Vaughan and Kitchener-Waterloo.
“What is he hiding? Who is he protecting?”
McGuinty shrugged off his decision to skip testifying before MPPs probingthe debacle at the air ambulance service.
He said Health Minister Deb Matthews has appeared before the committee three times to answer questions about ORNGE, which receives $150 million a year from taxpayers.
“That responsibility, of course, lies with the minister,” McGuinty told reporters at a west-end school, calling the committee to make recommendations for improving ORNGE.
Klees said McGuinty now has the dubious distinction of joiningChris Mazza in refusing to testify before the committee — although Mazza subsequently appeared after a warrant was issued by the speaker of the legislature.
However, the premier is immune to such warrants.
“There is a difference between myself and Dr. Mazza…he doesn’t appear in this legislature on a regular basis for question period. I do,” McGuinty said under fire from Klees in the House.
The premier said he’d like to get support from the opposition parties in passing ORNGE reform legislation based in large part on recommendations from Auditor General Jim McCarter on tightening control over the air ambulance service.
“They stalled that for five months, so I think they’ve done some good work, let’s get those recommendations and let’s move forward,” McGuinty urged.
When Mazza finally testified in July after health delays, he told MPPs he met with the premier three times.
McGuinty has told the legislature his only meeting with Mazza was when the doctor guided him on an emergency evacuation tour in northern Ontario in 2005.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
I just caught the tail end of a news report on CBC radio about Ornge pilots in Thunder Bay being escorted off the property. They also mentioned a security guard has been stationed inside the hangar. Anyone know what's happening?
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
FL 280 Well aren't you just a breathe of fresh air. You certainly have a good grasp of the obvious. Does it pain you to look down your nose at all us peons? I'm glad we are all caught up on the times now. Not sure how we managed for so long without you.
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
I assume there was post that was removed.
Was this related to the pilot that was suspended after testifying at the hearing? Is he back at work now or was he fired? Was he the one being removed from the property?
Was this related to the pilot that was suspended after testifying at the hearing? Is he back at work now or was he fired? Was he the one being removed from the property?
Re: Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/09 ... ure-staff/
Days after the new president of Ontario’s air ambulance service touted a massive turnaround in the culture at Ornge, front-line staff say little has changed.
It has been almost a year since financial scandal rocked the taxpayer-funded organization, and interim president Ron McKerlie calls Ornge a “vastly different” entity today — one where employees feel comfortable broaching concerns, and where the troubling legacy of disgraced former president Chris Mazza is being erased day by day.
Related
Ornge now ‘a vastly different organization,’ interim president says
Ontario Conservatives slam McGuinty for failing to appear for Ornge investigation committee
Review to examine patient deaths involving Ornge air ambulance service
But after Mr. McKerlie delivered those comments to the Economic Club of Canada last week, a number of Ornge staff approached the National Post with a very different view.
“It’s a completely top-down culture. … They listen and listen and listen, but almost nothing changes,” said one Ornge pilot, who, along with several other staffers, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
“All of us are under stress,” the pilot said. “Everybody’s married, their wife’s telling them, ‘you’ve got to get out of that place.’ Their moods are changing.”
Ornge recently made headlines after reports surfaced that its Thunder Bay pilots were grounded for hundreds of hours this summer due to a paramedic shortage. And in August, the air ambulance service faced criticism for suspending whistleblower pilot Bruce Wade over unspecified health and safety concerns.
We run completely short-staffed all the time. We have a group of people working in the [communications centre] who are scheduled now 12 hours, no breaks
One major dispute centres on Ornge’s decision to terminate its contract with Canadian Helicopters Ltd. (CHL), bringing flight operations in house. Though the decision was made before Mr. McKerlie took the helm, it did not fully take effect until this past March. Helicopter pilots enjoyed more generous compensation under CHL’s employ, and Ornge expected to save money on that part of the deal.
But pilots says Ornge is unable to provide the same level of service, with helicopters sitting idle far more often and veteran staff quitting in protest, further damaging service.
Mr. McKerlie suggested those who are complaining about the culture at Ornge represent a fraction of the workforce and may be motivated by a desire to regain their CHL perks.
“The issues that are being raised are being raised by a small group of employees who are former CHL helicopter pilots, who are unhappy with the decision that was made to move the rotor-wing operations from CHL into Ornge,” he said.
Mr. McKerlie declined to comment on any of the specific complaints, saying he did not wish to fight with staff in the media.
But although the CHL dispute appears to be fuelling much of the discontent, employees from other areas of the business have also raised concerns about the work environment at Ornge.
According to one veteran communications centre worker, “constant, chronic downstaffing” pervades all aspects of the organization, from aviation to medicine to dispatch.
“We run completely short-staffed all the time. We have a group of people working in the [communications centre] who are scheduled now 12 hours, no breaks, because that’s how short-staffed we are,” the worker said. “In fact, they have to take a telephone to the bathroom.”
While patient care has remained excellent, the staffer said, it has become more difficult for the air ambulance service to retain top talent.
“They keep promising to bring numbers up, but the reality is they can’t,” added one former Ornge staffer. “They don’t have the money, nor the qualified training infrastructure, nor the right people. Those right people have either been fired or current ones refuse to be a part of it because they don’t believe in the organization.”
The “basic improvements” expected under the new administration have simply not materialized, the communications centre worker added.
“There’s been many times I’ve come home and been like, ‘I’m going to quit tomorrow,’” he said, “because I just can’t take it anymore.”
National Post
• Email: motoole@nationalpost.com | Twitter: megan_otoole
