Province gave new contract to clinic at root of health transfer cut By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 6:05 PM CDT Monday, Jul. 24, 2023

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This article was published 24/07/2023 (820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Stefanson government awarded Winnipeg-based Prota Clinic with a contract after Ottawa determined the private medical centre had charged patients more than $353,000 for necessary tests, leading to a claw back in provincial health funding this spring.

The province hired Prota Clinic on March 28 to perform diagnostic tests, as part of its plan to reduce wait lists and backlogs — despite notice from Health Canada that the clinic had billed Manitobans directly for such services in 2020-21.

On March 10, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced Manitoba would lose out on $353,827 in health funding, owing to a clinic charging patients directly for medically necessary, diagnostic imaging tests “that should be accessible to patients at no cost.”

On Monday, a Health Canada spokesperson confirmed Prota Clinic was the errant medical centre and had been charging patients contrary to the Canada Health Act and its diagnostic services policy.

The department used the “best evidence available” to estimate what patients were charged by Prota Clinic in the 2020-21 fiscal year, when the diagnostic services policy came into effect.

“This estimate was shared with Manitoba as part of the consultation process, which preceded deductions from Manitoba’s Canada Health Transfer payments announced in March,” the spokesperson said in a statement, noting the department first raised concerns about Prota Clinic’s billing practices with the province in 2017.

“Health Canada does not have confirmation of the total amount of patient charges for medically necessary diagnostic services levied by the Prota Clinic since it began charging patients for these services.”

Prota Clinic president and medical director Dr. Dimitrios Balageorge did not return a request for comment Monday.

The clinic began offering echocardiograms and ultrasounds to the public for $650 and $500, respectively, in January 2018; the tests are otherwise free for Manitobans who wait in the public queue.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon said her department recently directed Prota Clinic to cease charging patients for medically insured services.

“What our government stands behind is adhering to and honouring the provisions within the Canada Health Act, and the Canada Health Act states that those billings cannot be done,” Gordon said at an unrelated news conference Monday.

“Our government has not given a clinic the authority to bill individuals for medically necessary services.”

Manitoba Health is working with its federal counterpart on the issue, Gordon said. She did not say if future deductions are anticipated owing to Prota’s billing practices.

“We’ve always had a good relationship with our partners from the community and I’m confident that (billings for medically necessary services) will cease, and we will continue to honour the provisions and the requirements of the Canada Health Act.”

Ottawa may reimburse the deduction if the provincial government “eliminates the charges and the circumstances that led to them,” according to Health Canada.

According to the province’s diagnostic and surgical recovery task force, there were 19,605 patients waiting for an ultrasound in May 2023, with a monthly median wait time of nine weeks; the ultrasound backlog caused by the pandemic had been eliminated.

The task force does not report waitlist data for echocardiograms.

A spokesperson for Gordon’s office said the new contract is not an initiative of the task force and details of the arrangement could not be provided by deadline.

“We’ve always had a good relationship with our partners from the community and I’m confident that (billings for medically necessary services) will cease.”–Audrey Gordon

Manitoba Health Coalition director Thomas Linner called the decision to contract Prota Clinic after the province was penalized owing to its billing practices deeply concerning.

The medical centre was selected through a competitive, public tendering process.

“This should not be allowed. Any remedy here should be coming from the private company, and they certainly should not be obtaining new contracts,” Linner said.

The MHC is a labour-sponsored organization that advocates for universal public health care. It has been outspoken about the task force’s use of private, for-profit medical organizations.

“This should not be allowed. Any remedy here should be coming from the private company, and they certainly should not be obtaining new contracts.”–Thomas Linner

“We already know that we are short-staffed in some of our public facilities. It just seems to me wrongheaded to be directing resources towards organizations that are dedicated to working counter to the principles of the Canada Health Act,” Linner said.

Opposition health critic Uzoma Asagwara alleged the province’s directive would not have been issued if not for the clawback of funding in an election year. Hiring Prota Clinic in light of the concerns raised by Ottawa demonstrates poor judgement, the Union Station MLA said.

“The PCs are fine violating the Canada Health Act and failing to invest in strengthening the public health-care system as long as it’s not on anyone’s radar,” Asagwara said.

“Their priorities are for-profit, privatization of health care, not the health of people in this province.”

In a statement, a provincial spokesperson said the government does not endorse activities that breach the Health Services Insurance Act and Canada Health Act, and situations are examined when brought to government’s attention.

“Under the Canada Health Act, it is not acceptable for a citizen to personally pay out of pocket for a medically required insured services. and charging for these services is prohibited under the Health Services Insurance Act,” the spokesperson said.

— with files from Katie May

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca