Quebec Company Accuses CHU Sainte-Justine and Government of Illegally Awarding $637.5 Million Health Contract

2024-04-24 04:00:00

A Quebec company accuses CHU Sainte-Justine and the Quebec government of illegally awarding a huge contract worth $637.5 million to modernize the health network. She is asking the courts to void the agreement.

As part of the Digital Health Record, the Quebec government wants to replace all computer management systems used to represent diagnostic imaging in Quebec.

The government mandated CHU Sainte-Justine to handle the call for tenders and has just signed a 12-year contract with Sectra Canada worth $637.5 million, before taxes.

This is the largest contract in the history of Quebec in terms of medical imaging. The acquisition of this storage technology is one of the cornerstones of Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé’s IT reform.

The Quebec company Christie Innomed submitted an offer that would cost Quebec taxpayers $200 million less, the documents consulted by our Parliamentary Office showed.

She has just filed an initial application so that the court orders the Ministry of Health not to enforce the contract concluded with the British Columbia firm Sectra Canada.

According to our information, a complaint has also been lodged with the Public Procurement Authority (PPA). In addition, the results of the call for tenders have not yet been published.

The government has temporarily suspended the tender process, pending the court’s decision.

Suspicions were raised

According to documents filed in court, a current adviser to Sectra Canada, Édith Laflamme, previously played a role with the ministry in the preparation of the call for tenders. It is stated that Mr. Laflamme participated in an information meeting regarding the call for tenders, on Microsoft Teams, in April 2023, as a consultant to the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec (MCQ).

According to the evidence filed, Ms. Laflamme indicated on LinkedIn that she worked in the Ministry of Health and Social Services until March 2023 and that she started working as a change management consultant at Sectra in April 2023.

Christie Innomed, a firm from Saint-Eustache, alleges that the employees of the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec, including Ms. Laflamme, provided the most information to bidders. For this reason, Sectra’s offer should have been rejected, Christie argues.

In addition, she points out that Sectra does not have an AMP license, which should be the case due to the service contract included in the call for tenders.

Christie’s proposal was not accepted, as the CHU claims it did not meet 11 technical requirements out of the 350 requested. The company claims that Sainte-Justine did not have the tools to determine those requirements without demonstrating, during demonstrations, that the system it is proposing works.

The CHU defends itself

In a letter sent to Christie Innomed, which is included in the file submitted to the court, the CHU Sainte-Justice defends itself.

He insists that Ms. Let’s talk about the call for tenders process. “It is therefore inaccurate to allege that Sectra enjoyed an advantage over its competitors,” argues Daniel Tougas, who is responsible for the implementation of contractual rules, according to the letter attached to the requested documents.

Then, Sainte-Justine also argues that the company did not have to obtain authorization from the AMP, because the provision of the service is “incidental,” says the institution. The CHU also asserts that its compliance analysis is rigorous.

The three things that the company criticizes the government and the CHU Sainte-Justine:

• Conflict of interest: an employee of the company Sectra, which won the contract, worked on the call for tenders while she was employed by the health network.
• Lack of authorization: the company Sectra does not have a license from the Public Procurement Authority (AMP), even if the law requires it for contracts of more than $1 million in which there is a service offer.
• Flawed decision-making process: the CHU Sainte-Justine would have arbitrarily and subjectively rejected Christie’s proposal (Quebec’s bidder), which nevertheless cost $200 million less.

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