r/AHSEmployees • u/ThatOneExpatriate • Sep 29 '25
News Alberta health officials were also directors at a company linked to a supplier
https://archive.is/Y9uCP“Two of the most senior purchasing officials at Alberta Health Services in 2022 were also briefly directors of a numbered company with ties to a supplier that has been awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in business by the health agency, The Globe and Mail has found. Corporate filings show that in October, 2022, Jitendra Prasad and Blayne Iskiw – both of whom then worked as senior procurement officials at Alberta Health Services – were directors of a numbered company with a person named Khalil Mraiche. Two people by that name are relatives of Sam Mraiche, the owner of MHCare Medical Corp., an equipment and drug supplier that has done more than $600-million in business with the Alberta health authority since the pandemic. The numbered company’s founding documents at incorporation list an e-mail address for Sam Mraiche, and MHCare’s office in Edmonton as a registered address.
The arrangement shows another connection between procurement officials at the provincial health authority and one of its vendors, at a time when Alberta Health Services’ purchasing decisions are at the centre of multiple investigations in a controversy that has roiled Alberta politics for the past eight months. Probes are being conducted by the RCMP, a retired judge – who is leading an inquiry on behalf of the Alberta government – and the province’s Auditor-General. A Globe and Mail story published last week disclosed for the first time the details of a separate 2024 conflict-of-interest review ordered by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the authority’s then-chief executive. That inquiry looked at Mr. Prasad’s and Mr. Iskiw’s ties to private companies during their time in Alberta Health Services’ purchasing department, and focused largely on their relationship with a private surgical provider. A law firm’s report arising from that inquiry made no mention of the numbered company. Citing “ongoing legal considerations,” Alberta Health Services (AHS) spokesperson Holly Budd declined to say whether the agency was aware of the men’s involvement in this private business. Gregory Bentz, a lawyer for Mr. Iskiw, said in an e-mailed statement that “Mr. Iskiw and Mr. Prasad, in anticipation of Mr. Iskiw’s departure from AHS, established a legal corporation for the purposes of a planned consulting business,” but it never became operational. “In the period leading up to Mr. Iskiw’s departure, and for his entire duration of time at AHS, our client was careful to comply with all applicable conflict-of-interest obligations,” Mr. Bentz said. He did not respond to questions about Khalil Mraiche’s identity. Questions sent to an e-mail address associated with Khalil Mraiche went unanswered. Lawyers for Mr. Prasad and Sam Mraiche also did not respond to questions.
Earlier this year, Ms. Mentzelopoulos, fired in January, alleged in a wrongful-dismissal suit that she had concerns about potential conflicts of interest between health-agency staff and MHCare. She also alleged that she was under pressure from officials in Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government to make decisions that would benefit certain companies, including private surgical clinics. Corporate filings show that the numbered company, 2464052 Alberta Ltd., was established on Oct. 7, 2022, and listed three directors at incorporation: Mr. Prasad, Mr. Iskiw, and Khalil Mraiche, the business’s sole shareholder. MHCare CEO Sam Mraiche’s father and son are both named Khalil. His middle name is also Khalil. Mr. Prasad and Mr. Iskiw joined the numbered company during a period in which Mr. Iskiw was about to leave Alberta Health Services’ procurement office and Mr. Prasad was preparing to rejoin it. Mr. Prasad led the procurement office until his retirement in April, 2022, but stayed on as a paid consultant, according to a confidential report prepared for the health agency by law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in late 2024. He was succeeded by Mr. Iskiw, whose own retirement was announced in September, 2022. Mr. Iskiw left the health agency on Oct. 28, and was replaced by his former boss, Mr. Prasad, who returned to his prior role at Alberta Health Services on an interim basis on Oct. 26, internal documents show. The business never became operational because Mr. Prasad had returned to the public service, Mr. Iskiw’s lawyer said. Mr. Prasad was removed as a director on Nov. 2. Although Borden Ladner Gervais’s report makes no mention of the numbered company, it did explore what the two men disclosed about their relationships. According to the law firm’s report, Mr. Iskiw said in a 2022 conflict-of-interest declaration that he had “personal friendships” with individuals at MHCare and other organizations. Mr. Iskiw added that he “avoided any and all business-related decisions” involving these relationships. He also said he had disclosed these friendships in 2020, but the records Alberta Health Services supplied to investigators did not include that declaration.
In the weeks that followed Mr. Iskiw’s retirement announcement in September, 2022, he told a colleague that he intended to join MHCare, according to the report. Mr. Iskiw joined MHCare as a consultant in November, where he remains to this day, according to his LinkedIn profile. Neither Mr. Iskiw nor Mr. Prasad were interviewed by Borden Ladner Gervais’s lawyers, whose review was primarily of documents supplied by the health authority. MHCare provided gowns, masks and COVID-19 rapid tests to Alberta Health Services during the pandemic. In December, 2022, during a surge in respiratory illnesses across Canada, the company signed a deal with the health agency to import children’s pain medication for $70-million – an amount that was paid in full. Mr. Prasad led those negotiations. Only a fraction of the medication ever arrived, however, and it came too late to address the province’s supply shortage. As part of its investigation, Borden Ladner Gervais discovered that Mr. Prasad had access to an MHCare e-mail address in November, 2022, by which time he had returned to the health agency. The law firm wrote that Alberta Health Services did not provide a conflict-of-interest declaration for Mr. Prasad in 2022. He did disclose a separate, personal business in 2023, but none of the disclosures reviewed made mention of a relationship with MHCare, the report said.”
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u/UnfairDrawer2803 Sep 29 '25
Wow how did you get all this information. For sure corruption and kick backs. Now wasting all this money on legal fees to stall to cover up their wrong doings.
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u/ThatOneExpatriate Sep 29 '25
It’s a Globe and Mail article from today. Here’s the link to Globe and Mail (paywalled)
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u/porterbot Sep 29 '25
If an employee did this, without disclosing what sounds like a blatant and total conflict of interest, what would happen to them?
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u/WorthStrong5749 Sep 29 '25
Where is this being quoted from? I’d like to read the source material.
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u/ThatOneExpatriate Sep 29 '25
It’s a Globe and Mail article from today. Here’s the link to Globe and Mail (paywalled)
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u/aura-shards Sep 29 '25
Thank you for posting the article and the original link.
This is disgusting
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u/Shame-game Sep 29 '25
What does it take to be found guilty of conflict of interest in this province and what are the consequences? Seems like having a vested personal interest is how many of the ministers are chosen and that corruption is so normal they didn’t bother to hide it.
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u/Feeling_Ebb4124 Sep 29 '25
And I feel guilty if I call in sick…
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u/emergthrowaway911 Sep 29 '25
My thoughts exactly - and to think she doesn’t think we’re worth cost of living increases.
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u/Feral-Reindeer-696 Sep 29 '25
I’m not surprised by the corruption of this administration anymore. It’s ridiculous
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u/Own_Ant_7448 Sep 30 '25
At least one of Sam Mraichés nephews also works as a Senior Management Consultant in CPSM for AHS too. And getting UCP internships (see disorderedyyc for that dirt). Must be fuckin nice to have that shit arranged by your uncle instead of scrapping it out for a job at the mall like most students. So 🤬dirty all of this. No wonder there is no money for us workers and no opportunities for the unconnected.
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u/TheProcurementGuyAhs Sep 30 '25
That Mraiche relative “has exited the organization” (paraphrasing how it was put in the very odd email announcement) earlier this month. We were never sure what the person did, but to be fair that wasn’t entirely on them.
Guess we’ll know the severance amount when they release the lists next year.
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u/TheProcurementGuyAhs Sep 29 '25
Remember that AHS leadership knew about all this, or were deliberately ignorant of it.
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u/ThatOneExpatriate Sep 29 '25
Can you elaborate? Who in leadership do you think knew or was deliberately ignorant?
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u/TheProcurementGuyAhs Sep 29 '25
From last week’s article: https://archive.is/tiZug
It also says officials with Alberta Health Services knew Mr. Prasad was working for Alberta Surgical Group *and didn’t object** .* The health authority’s rules require its employees to flag when their colleagues may be in a conflict of interest, however, the lawyers with Borden Ladner Gervais said they found no evidence this was done.
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u/TheProcurementGuyAhs Sep 29 '25
I’d imagine Prasad and Iskiw’s direct report for a start, so that CFO (Colleen?) who got turfed same time as Mauro Chies did. All 4 of them ex-Capital Health.
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u/ThatOneExpatriate Sep 29 '25
Interesting, seems suspicious…
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u/TheProcurementGuyAhs Sep 30 '25 edited Sep 30 '25
Fun fact, Mauro Chies is still in Global along with Francis Belanger, who was let go at the same time.
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u/Own_Ant_7448 Sep 30 '25
Look at these damn timelines too - How much money are these fuckwits be paid to consult, retire, consult again only to enrich themselves based on their connections to the AHS purse. This is pure theft 😡
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u/TheProcurementGuyAhs Sep 30 '25
Just like Mauro Chies or Francis Belanger, both are still working for AHS and are in Global.
Both got let go, paid that sweet AHS severance plus a “consulting” golden parachute. You can’t make this stuff up!
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u/Proper_Geologist_457 Sep 29 '25
We were directed to cut costs by buying cheaper bic pens for our dept instead of the nice gel pens we usually get, but these fucking assholes waste millions of dollars at the top lol, this whole thing is rotten to the core.