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Matthews praises Toronto hospital's handling of Ornge-related scandal

By: Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 at 5:07 PM | Comments: 0

TORONTO - Ontario's health minister is praising a Toronto hospital for taking firm action against a top doctor who had controversial financial dealings with the province's troubled air ambulance service.

Deb Matthews says she's pleased that Mount Sinai Hospital has accepted Dr. Tom Stewart's resignation as physician-in-chief.

The hospital says Stewart agreed to step down after a review of financial deals he arranged with former Ornge chief executive Chris Mazza.

The review found the hospital paid Mazza about $256,000 over five years.

While $108,000 went towards advisory services performed between 2006 and 2008, the hospital says it could not account for three years worth of services with a price tag of $148,000.

Mount Sinai says Stewart has acknowledged the deals were an error in judgment on his part, adding he will stay on at the hospital to focus on his clinical practice.

Matthews praised Mount Sinai's decision to seek a new top doctor, as well as the hospital's efforts to recover funds that may have been misspent.

"It's completely unacceptable when people in health care abuse their privileges and lose sight of their responsibility to the people of Ontario," Matthews said in a statement. "I'm pleased that Mount Sinai has taken the actions they have to date."

Mount Sinai President Joseph Mapa said the details of Stewart's dealings with Mazza came to light during an external review performed by an unspecified legal team.

The review found evidence that Mazza offered clinical services to the hospital's intensive care unit, but could not confirm that three years worth of advisory duties to the Critical Care Response Team and the Department of Medicine were ever fulfilled.

The review also made recommendations to make the hospital's financial transactions more transparent, Mapa said.

"As a public institution, Mount Sinai Hospital is committed to the highest level of integrity and fiscal responsibility," Mapa said in a statement. "We regret this unfortunate situation and are also using the review to examine our disclosure requirements and practices to ensure that they met the most rigorous standards."

Scandals related to Ornge have dogged the Liberal government since police announced a probe into financial irregularities at the firm more than a year ago. Since then, the air ambulance service has also been the subject of heated legislative committee hearings.

Mazza personally came under fire after it was learned he set up a series of private for-profit entities under the Ornge banner and hid his $1.4 million salary from the public.

His sky-high salary didn't stop Mazza from billing taxpayers thousands of dollars in expenses for everything from luxurious trips to 75 cent parking fees. Documents also showed he took $1.2 million in loans in a single year from Ornge and its different subsidiaries.

Earlier this week, Matthews re-introduced legislation that she said would boost oversight of the scandal-plagued air ambulance service and limit what it can do without government approval, such as selling assets.

Matthews said whistleblowers would be protected under the bill, and announced she would introduce a new regulation to put Ornge under the auspices of Ontario's freedom of information legislation.

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