The whistleblowers of ORNGE, who brought serious patient safety and financial concerns forward, are being warned they may go to jail if they keep talking.
“If you leak information you can be held criminally liable for obstructing a criminal investigation,” interim ORNGE boss Ron McKerlie warned ORNGE’s 400 employees Thursday at a town-hall meeting.
“You can go to jail,” he said.
The stiff warning appears to be directed at the many ORNGE employees who helped the public learn just how troubled the air ambulance service was. It came just before Friday’s announcement that the province hopes to tighten its grip on the service, which the Star found was riddled with problems.
The province, Health Minister Deb Matthews told reporters, is drafting legislation to provide tougher oversight and to ensure no changes to the corporate structure or sale of assets happen without health minister approval.
One thing the Star uncovered was the creation by ORNGE of numerous for-profit companies that did nothing to help patient care in Ontario. Questioned about it earlier, Matthews said she had no power to stop ORNGE and its former boss Dr. Chris Mazza.
After more than two months of investigative stories in the Star exposing high executive salaries, perks and questionable cash payouts, Matthews told reporters Friday the changes will give the government increased audit and inspection powers over ORNGE.
The Ontario Provincial Police was called in by the ministry this week to investigate the actions of former executives.
McKerlie is the deputy minister sent in to clean up ORNGE as part of the new leadership team in place at the agency. He has earned respect for tackling problems head on, but employees were concerned about the tone of the Town Hall meeting.
ORNGE employees with whom the Star dealt believe they did the right thing speaking to the media following failed attempts to sound the alarm for two years. Those attempts included complaints to the health ministry, the finance ministry, the provincial auditor general, and ministers and opposition critics.
“We tried to fix it through channels. That did not work,” one said.
McKerlie told ORNGE employees Thursday not to talk to the media.
“If you are doing it, you need to stop now,” he said, adding that it was for their “own protection.” He referred to the media interest in ORNGE as a “soap opera” and said if “you are feeding it you have to stop.”
Told Friday morning that the Star was writing about his comments, McKerlie amended his position in a company-wide note Friday afternoon, saying he was committed to developing a “whistleblower policy to ensure that in future, staff are protected should they feel the need to come forward with information.”
McKerlie said the OPP had told him that releasing information during the investigation could “compromise” its outcome.
The Star’s investigation drew from information it obtained from numerous ORNGE sources, who spoke about serious patient safety issues, problems with the helicopters and alleged financial impropriety, which included the revelation that a $6.7 million payment was made by an Italian helicopter firm to founder Dr. Chris Mazza’s company after he and ORNGE selected its choppers for Ontario.
All the issues raised by employees are now being investigated by police, auditors and other officials. ORNGE employees have long been forbidden from speaking publicly of concerns and must sign a confidentiality agreement when hired.
At Queen’s Park, Matthews said she will let the OPP do its work and she’ll move forward with new rules governing ORNGE.
“I am not going to point fingers,” Matthews said. “I am fixing the problem.”
OPP detectives will focus their investigation on the $6.7 million payment from the Italian firm and $1.2 million in loans and a cash advance to Mazza.
There is a new interim boss (McKerlie) and a new board is in place, said Matthews. “I am not managing ORNGE. They are managing ORNGE and it is important I let them do their work.”
Under the proposed legislation, any changes to ORNGE’s corporate structure, including asset sales, would have to be approved directly by the minister. As well, conflict-of-interest provisions will be strengthened and debt-control provisions will be put in place to prevent debt increases without ministry approval.
A new patient advocate and complaints process are also being planned.
Changes to the province’s Ambulance Act will give the minister the power to appoint a supervisor over ORNGE if need be, in much the same way that the minister can appoint a supervisor in a hospital.
New ORNGE board member Dr. Barry McLellan, the CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, has taken the lead on making sure that patient safety is paramount, Matthews said.
McLellan’s first task was to reconfigure the inside of the cramped interior of the medical helicopters, she said. A previous Star story found the inside of the new AW 139 helicopter was a “high risk environment” and difficult to perform CPR in or to prop up a patient who cannot breathe.
“That fix is implemented, and they are looking now at a longer term solution to reconfigure the interiors,” Matthews said.
Afterwards, Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees said Matthews still believes she can provide “band-aid solutions” to a very broken organization.
“The fact she continues to refer to this organization as ORNGE and insists it still can be fixed demonstrates clearly she is very much out of touch with how deep the issues are at ORNGE,” said Klees (Newmarket-Aurora).
“The fact that the minister did nothing for months indicates clearly that this minister failed to provide the proper oversight and it happened on her watch. She should step aside.”
Klees said Ontario’s air ambulance system has become so tainted that one of the first things the government should do here is change its name.
“The first thing that probably should be done is we get rid of that name ORNGE,” he said. “Let’s return to that name Ontario Air Ambulance Service.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Kevin Donovan, Tanya Talaga
“If you leak information you can be held criminally liable for obstructing a criminal investigation,” interim ORNGE boss Ron McKerlie warned ORNGE’s 400 employees Thursday at a town-hall meeting.
“You can go to jail,” he said.
The stiff warning appears to be directed at the many ORNGE employees who helped the public learn just how troubled the air ambulance service was. It came just before Friday’s announcement that the province hopes to tighten its grip on the service, which the Star found was riddled with problems.
The province, Health Minister Deb Matthews told reporters, is drafting legislation to provide tougher oversight and to ensure no changes to the corporate structure or sale of assets happen without health minister approval.
One thing the Star uncovered was the creation by ORNGE of numerous for-profit companies that did nothing to help patient care in Ontario. Questioned about it earlier, Matthews said she had no power to stop ORNGE and its former boss Dr. Chris Mazza.
After more than two months of investigative stories in the Star exposing high executive salaries, perks and questionable cash payouts, Matthews told reporters Friday the changes will give the government increased audit and inspection powers over ORNGE.
The Ontario Provincial Police was called in by the ministry this week to investigate the actions of former executives.
McKerlie is the deputy minister sent in to clean up ORNGE as part of the new leadership team in place at the agency. He has earned respect for tackling problems head on, but employees were concerned about the tone of the Town Hall meeting.
ORNGE employees with whom the Star dealt believe they did the right thing speaking to the media following failed attempts to sound the alarm for two years. Those attempts included complaints to the health ministry, the finance ministry, the provincial auditor general, and ministers and opposition critics.
“We tried to fix it through channels. That did not work,” one said.
McKerlie told ORNGE employees Thursday not to talk to the media.
“If you are doing it, you need to stop now,” he said, adding that it was for their “own protection.” He referred to the media interest in ORNGE as a “soap opera” and said if “you are feeding it you have to stop.”
Told Friday morning that the Star was writing about his comments, McKerlie amended his position in a company-wide note Friday afternoon, saying he was committed to developing a “whistleblower policy to ensure that in future, staff are protected should they feel the need to come forward with information.”
McKerlie said the OPP had told him that releasing information during the investigation could “compromise” its outcome.
The Star’s investigation drew from information it obtained from numerous ORNGE sources, who spoke about serious patient safety issues, problems with the helicopters and alleged financial impropriety, which included the revelation that a $6.7 million payment was made by an Italian helicopter firm to founder Dr. Chris Mazza’s company after he and ORNGE selected its choppers for Ontario.
All the issues raised by employees are now being investigated by police, auditors and other officials. ORNGE employees have long been forbidden from speaking publicly of concerns and must sign a confidentiality agreement when hired.
At Queen’s Park, Matthews said she will let the OPP do its work and she’ll move forward with new rules governing ORNGE.
“I am not going to point fingers,” Matthews said. “I am fixing the problem.”
OPP detectives will focus their investigation on the $6.7 million payment from the Italian firm and $1.2 million in loans and a cash advance to Mazza.
There is a new interim boss (McKerlie) and a new board is in place, said Matthews. “I am not managing ORNGE. They are managing ORNGE and it is important I let them do their work.”
Under the proposed legislation, any changes to ORNGE’s corporate structure, including asset sales, would have to be approved directly by the minister. As well, conflict-of-interest provisions will be strengthened and debt-control provisions will be put in place to prevent debt increases without ministry approval.
A new patient advocate and complaints process are also being planned.
Changes to the province’s Ambulance Act will give the minister the power to appoint a supervisor over ORNGE if need be, in much the same way that the minister can appoint a supervisor in a hospital.
New ORNGE board member Dr. Barry McLellan, the CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, has taken the lead on making sure that patient safety is paramount, Matthews said.
McLellan’s first task was to reconfigure the inside of the cramped interior of the medical helicopters, she said. A previous Star story found the inside of the new AW 139 helicopter was a “high risk environment” and difficult to perform CPR in or to prop up a patient who cannot breathe.
“That fix is implemented, and they are looking now at a longer term solution to reconfigure the interiors,” Matthews said.
Afterwards, Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees said Matthews still believes she can provide “band-aid solutions” to a very broken organization.
“The fact she continues to refer to this organization as ORNGE and insists it still can be fixed demonstrates clearly she is very much out of touch with how deep the issues are at ORNGE,” said Klees (Newmarket-Aurora).
“The fact that the minister did nothing for months indicates clearly that this minister failed to provide the proper oversight and it happened on her watch. She should step aside.”
Klees said Ontario’s air ambulance system has become so tainted that one of the first things the government should do here is change its name.
“The first thing that probably should be done is we get rid of that name ORNGE,” he said. “Let’s return to that name Ontario Air Ambulance Service.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Kevin Donovan, Tanya Talaga
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