Mazza FIRED. Orgne in receivership

[rapid602]

I read the abouve thread and can not believe I am one of only a very few who can not understand why a motorcycle built for Ornge in Ornge colours is for sale on a Gov. Of Canada surplus site. HOW DID PROVINCIAL MIONEY END UP ON A FEDERAL ASSETS WEB SITE. I know that I am not the only one to see this. Is anyone else concerned

Maybe Time to call Kevin Donovan 416 312 3503 or kdonovan@the star.ca

In fact I think I will.

[EA757]

http://crownassets.pwgsc.gc.ca/mn-eng.c ... 0&vndsld=0

rapid602,

Maybe because it's a "CHOPPER"...

<grin>

Probably, because it is the quickest cheapest way to liquidate an asset.

[rapid602]

Its the quickest way to liquidate an asset, that makes less noise and doesn't need an add in Bike Trader or Eaby where we could make some money for it. Hell just stick in the lobby of the Crytal Palace.

[EA757]

rapid602

Duff and Phelps (the trustees) are faced with a bankrupt business.

Their job is to liquidate any remaining assets, within a short period
of time following guidelines established by the government.

I have enormous faith that the marketplace will establish
the exact value of the chopper regardless of the venue.

[Inverted2]

Any idea how much that thing cost the Ontario taxpayer? If you go riding with your buddies and one crashes, at least you have a stretcher on board.

[EA757]

Inverted 2,

Wikipedia says that they start at over $31,000.00 US and all are custom made, however, the two that Ornge had were donations according to this article.


Jan 26, 2012 - 12:37 PM
|
0 |

Torstar Network
A charity that raised millions by taking payments from many ORNGE suppliers has been shut down.
The move happened yesterday at almost the same time that a new board of directors - unpaid - took over at Mississauga-based ORNGE.
The ORNGE Foundation, with a mandate to "support and promote improvement of patient care" in Ontario, was the latest air ambulance entity to get the boot.
New ORNGE boss Ron McKerlie said the decision to close the charity is part of the government's plan to get the air ambulance service back on track. Scandal has dogged the service since mid-December, with revelations of high salaries and executive perks, secrecy, delayed ambulance dispatches and mysterious overseas payments.
McKerlie told staff in an internal e-mail that an ORNGE-backed charity would have a hard time continuing to solicit donations from the public and patients until "we regain their trust and confidence."
The two executives who ran the foundation lost their jobs. A day earlier, ORNGE's other charity, J-Smarts, was shut down.
The ORNGE Foundation has $7.5 million in assets and an additional $6.8 million in "deferred revenue."
What McKerlie did not mention in his staff e-mail is that very few of the dollars received by the foundation since it was created four years ago came from the public and patients.


Instead, the money (and gifts, like two fancy motorcycles painted orange) came from companies like Pilatus, which sold 10 single-engine airplanes to ORNGE for use as air ambulances at an estimated total cost of $40 million.


In one case, a news release from ORNGE noted that Pilatus donated $343,000 to the foundation. When ORNGE purchased $144 million worth of helicopters (12 in total) from Agusta Westland, Agusta made a $6.7 million payment to an ORNGE for-profit and gave two orange "choppers" to the foundation.
ORNGE Foundation's report to the Canada Revenue Agency show the foundation's $7.5 million in assets is a rough split between cash and investments and unidentified capital assets. The $2.2 million revenue last year includes an $835,659 payment from outside Canada. The source is not named.
Chief operating officer Tom Lepine said that ORNGE, like other large organizations, routinely asks for companies it does business with to pay an additional two per cent to its foundation. It's not known how much each supplier provided or whether these donations raised the cost of the air ambulance service to taxpayers.
So what becomes of the two defunct charities' assets?
"To the extent legally possible, those assets will be transferred to ORNGE," an ORNGE spokesperson said in an e-mail.
Also unclear is exactly what the ORNGE Foundation did. Its website described how it purchased medical equipment for use on the air ambulances. Ontario already pays $150 million a year to ORNGE to equip and service the fleet.
Meanwhile, ORNGE's outgoing board, many of them well paid by the air service, said it had approved a new volunteer board that includes a respected former cabinet minister from the Mike Harris era.
Former attorney general Charles Harnick will be one of six members on a board headed by mining executive Ian Delaney, chair of Sherritt International Corporation.
The previous board was fired earlier this month.
Torstar Network

.

[Doc]

Any idea how much that thing cost the Ontario taxpayer? If you go riding with your buddies and one crashes, at least you have a stretcher on board.

Makes one kind of wonder exactly how full of himself Mazza actually was, don't it? Can you say "EGO"? Knew ya could.

[Rik Dikulous]

Well let's face it.....Mazza was definitely full of something.

[oldncold]

i think the whole thing can be summed up this way, via the ole metaphor' if no one is minding the hen house the fox will get in' and wreck havoc /

when there is big $$$ either private or public enterprize it undoubtabley attracts those personalities ( machaviellian ) manza was just another example of the fox getin in to the hen house.

[ipilot54]

Deb Matthews can’t say where missing $25 million in ORNGE cash is
Published On Mon Feb 27 2012
A Saturday Star story revealed nearly $25 million raised by ORNGE with taxpayers’ help cannot be accounted for and investigators are digging to see if the cash was used on a spending spree, bad business decisions or if some of it went to executives’ pockets.
Pawel Dwulit/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Tanya Talaga and Kevin Donovan Staff Reporters
• More on The Star's investigation into ORNGE
• $25M in ORNGE money unaccounted for
• ORNGE leaves a black mark on Deb Matthews’ ambitious health reforms
• ORNGE will be probed by OPP detectives
• Tougher legislation, but whistleblowers muzzled
• ORNGE finances to be investigated by OPP
• ORNGE loaned ex-CEO Chris Mazza $1.2M
• ORNGE paid lawyers $11 million
• Ontario health ministry was warned of serious problems at ORNGE in 2008
Health Minister Deb Matthews can’t say what happened to $25 million in missing ORNGE funds but members of the opposition argue she had the authority to monitor the air service more strictly than she did.
A Saturday Star story revealed nearly $25 million raised by ORNGE with taxpayers’ help cannot be accounted for and investigators are digging to see if the cash was used on a spending spree, bad business decisions or if some of it went to executives’ pockets.
The money is part of $275 million ORNGE raised from investors in 2009 to buy new airplanes, helicopters and an office building. Taxpayer money is repaying the investors.
“Madam minister, where is the money? Where is the money?” demanded NDP MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) in the Legislature on Monday.
The whereabouts of the $25 million is part of the ongoing Ontario Provincial Police investigation, Matthews told reporters after question period.
“And I can’t say much beyond saying that I am assured they do know where the money has gone but we really do need to let the police do their work,” Matthews said.
Both the Progressive Conservatives and the New Democrats are demanding Matthews resign over the scandal that has been detailed in a series of Star stories for months and include allegations of executive perks, questionable loans and service disruptions.
PC MPP Frank Klees said Matthews has the power to hold ORNGE accountable to the public but she has consistently failed to do so. He said the minister’s responsibilities are outlined in a letter sent to her by former board chair Rainer Beltzner, dated Jan. 19, 2011.
“The ministry on behalf of the government, now has and was intended to have a funding, standards and oversight role that it exercises through the performance agreement, rather than a direct program management or delivery role,” the letter states.
The statement is clear, said Klees, yet Matthews said the performance agreement didn’t give her the proper accountability mechanisms to police the agency.
“That is fundamentally not true,” he said. “The performance agreement very clearly stipulates the ministry of health has oversight responsibilities and standard enforcement responsibilities of the air ambulance service.”
The minister is intentionally confusing what happened on the for-profit side of the company and what should have happened on the not-for-profit air ambulance side, he said.
Matthews said the original agreement did not give the government the tools it needed to police ORNGE, and said even the auditor general indicated this was true.
“Unfortunately, one of the provisions of the old agreement was that we could cancel the contract with them but it was a three-year process,” she said. “That is why we are moving forward with a new one with much stronger oversight.”
The new legislation will require ministry approval to any change in corporate structure.

[markymarkl]

The bad news is ONLY the public will suffer! Next time you need a lift to the hospital good luck. It seemed to work ok when we had the private folks were doing the work! What happened Deb??

[Colonel Sanders]

Maybe it went to bonuses like these winners?

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved close to $370,000 in bonuses for 20 employees of Solyndra LLC, a solar panel manufacturer that received a half-billion dollar loan from the federal government before declaring bankruptcy.

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Nortel Networks Corp., once the largest telephone-equipment maker in North America, won U.S. and Canadian approvals to pay eight executives bonuses of as much as $7.3 million as the company tries to reorganize in bankruptcy.

Isn't it funny how that always happens? You need to pay bonuses to the people who ran the company into the ground? And nobody cares.

PS How many hundreds of million of dollars was Bobby Milton paid for bankrupting Air Canada and making it's shares worthless?

[5x5]

Isn't it funny how that always happens? You need to pay bonuses to the people who ran the company into the ground? And nobody cares.

Actually, people do care - that's one of the main reasons the Occupy movement started. Now, let's not derail the thread by debating the merits of the Occupy tactics or whatever, but people do care. It's just difficult to know how to make any changes. The democratic political process will eventually work if enough people get involved for the long run and actually contact their political representatives and vote effectively to hold them accountable.

But that takes long term focus, determination and hey, it's hard work. So most people just read the odd article, rant for a moment and get back to watching reality TV or mma.

[ipilot54]

ORNGE official says he lied about his MBA
Published On Tue Feb 28 2012

Rick Potter of ORNGE in front of fixed wing air ambulance.
TBNEWSWATCH.COM/LEITH DUNICK
Kevin Donovan Staff Reporter

Related

More on The Star's investigation into ORNGE
$25M in ORNGE money unaccounted for
ORNGE leaves a black mark on Deb Matthews’ ambitious health reforms
ORNGE will be probed by OPP detectives
Tougher legislation, but whistleblowers muzzled
ORNGE finances to be investigated by OPP
ORNGE loaned ex-CEO Chris Mazza $1.2M
ORNGE paid lawyers $11 million
Ontario health ministry was warned of serious problems at ORNGE in 2008

ORNGE’s aviation chief pretended to have an MBA to help woo investors into kicking in $275 million for new aircraft.

Rick Potter, who initially maintained he had an MBA, admitted to the Star that he lied on a document sent to investors and in his earlier response to the newspaper. Potter said former ORNGE CEO Dr. Chris Mazza put him up to it.

“I provided inaccurate information yesterday,” Potter told the Star on Friday. “To clarify, I was enrolled at Heriot-Watt (Edinburgh, Scotland) in the MBA program in the late 1990’s. My workload has precluded my ability to finish this program. It was suggested to me by Dr. Chris Mazza that it would look better in the prospectus if it was indicated I had completed this program. I agreed to do this,” Potter said in a written statement.

The prospectus Potter is referring to was the ORNGE Issuer Trust, a private bond offering in 2009 that secured $275 million funding that was used to purchase new helicopters and airplanes. A story published Saturday revealed that an analysis by the Star and ORNGE insiders could account for only $250 million of the money raised.

Police are probing numerous financial transactions, while provincial health investigators are looking into patient safety issues.

Potter is chief operating officer of ORNGE Air, the aviation division of the service. His biography on the ORNGE website states that he is a former air traffic controller, bush pilot and one-time dean of the Aviation Centre at Thunder Bay’s Confederation College.

In the 2009 prospectus, the credentials of top ORNGE officials are front and centre. Potter is listed as having an MBA.

During Mazza’s time at ORNGE (2005 to 2011) executives were encouraged to further their education and, as a December Star story revealed, at least $600,000 was spent by the air service for executives to obtain MBAs (master of business administration). At least seven executives were granted the degree, including one who did her studies in Canada and Europe.

Potter was not one of them. According to his statement to the Star, he had started taking courses years before at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, long before ORNGE was created. Heriot-Watt provides the online MBA as part of its “distance learning” program.

Potter told Mazza he had begun the program and Mazza, according to Potter, told him to include his unearned degree on the prospectus. Mazza has been unreachable for comment on this.

Potter is one of the last surviving senior members of Mazza’s executive team (Mazza and others have lost their jobs in the growing scandal). Potter lives in Thunder Bay but is flown weekly to Toronto, put up in a hotel, so that he can work out of the ORNGE head office. ORNGE says he also does some work at the Thunder Bay ORNGE base.

Beginning in early December the Star has tried to interview Potter, but until now he has never responded to our attempts.

The prospectus, prepared by Alf Apps and other lawyers at Fasken Martineau, was registered with the Ontario Securities Commission.

When the Star first asked ORNGE and Potter about his MBA, ORNGE’s new boss Ron McKerlie and others questioned Potter, who said he had the degree.

“Rick Potter took an MBA many years ago at his own expense, long before he became involved with ORNGE,” the Star was told on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Star was checking with the Scottish University, which was unable to find a record of Potter earning an MBA. The Star went back to ORNGE. McKerlie questioned Potter, who admitted to not having the degree, an ORNGE insider said.

ORNGE pilots and paramedics blame Potter for many of the decisions that are now causing the service trouble. Among them, the combination of medical interiors chosen and the type of aircraft selected and paid for with the $275 million bond issue. Ontario taxpayers are paying interest and principal payments back to those investors as part of the deal.

Potter’s name came up at Queen’s Park yesterday.

Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees accused Health Minister Deb Matthews of misleading the Legislature by saying ORNGE has new leadership, the Star’s Tanya Talaga reported. Pointing out that Potter and vice-president operations Steve Farquhar are still there, Klees called for a full housecleaning.

“These are the people who made decisions regarding protocol, dispatch changes. These are the individuals who failed to get sign off for equipment, a multi-million purchase of equipment. The reality is we have a serious, continuing problem at ORNGE, we continue to hear about incidents at an ongoing basis where paramedics are not available and pilots are not available,” Klees said.

Pilots and paramedics interviewed by the Star say the new aircraft have serious issues that compromise patient safety (for example, CPR could not be done inflight) and there is evidence of wasted money. For example, with Potter’s input, expensive “ORNGE Pickers” were designed and purchased — hydraulic arms that were supposed to lift patients on stretchers into the plane. The arms are not long enough, the Pickers have not been used and ORNGE will receive a partial credit for the machinery.

Also with Potter’s involvement, ORNGE purchased expensive (ORNGE has not yet released the cost of this system or the pickers) de-icing systems for the new AW139 helicopters, but they have never worked and ORNGE spokesman James MacDonald said there are concerns with the “reliability” of the system — a problem they are trying to solve with the manufacturer.

Perhaps most importantly, Potter has knowledge of the controversial $6.7 million payment from Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland to one of Mazza’s for-profit companies after ORNGE paid $144 million to AgustaWestland for 12 choppers.

An ORNGE insider said Potter raised concerns internally about the optics of this payment to Mazza’s company. The payment was for “marketing services” and, according to McKerlie, the marketing service binder prepared does not justify the payment.

ALSO FROM THE STAR: $25 million in ORNGE cash is missing

Kevin Donovan can be reached at kdonovan@thestar.ca or (416) 312-3503

[EA757]

Some ORNGE helicopters are forbidden from entering U.S. airspace and must land at the border and use land ambulances to cross to American cities.

A leaked government memo, initially obtained by the Progressive Conservatives, shows ORNGE is awaiting FAA approval.

The letter, dated Monday, says there is a delay in receiving necessary U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval for ORNGE chopper flights across the border. Ontario funds the scandal-plagued ORNGE $150 million a year to provide air ambulance service.

“ORNGE helicopters based out of Toronto, London, Ottawa and Sudbury are not able to fly into the U.S. at this time,” according to a statement released by ORNGE.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Deb Matthews said the issue relates to ORNGE’s new AgustaWestland helicopters, and not its older fleet of Sikorsky helicopters, which have approval for cross-border flights.

Only one patient in the last fiscal year has had to be transported by helicopter in the U.S., said ORNGE spokeswoman Jennifer Tracey.

However, 28 people have been taken across the border by fixed-wing aircraft, she said. These patients are normally in need of a burn unit or neurology bed and must be flown to the U.S. for care as there is no space in an Ontario hospital.

While they wait, there is a contingency plan in place, said Tracey. Patients requiring American transport are taken to the nearest helipad on the Canadian side and transferred to hospital via a U.S.-based land ambulance. A memo was sent by ORNGE to its employees detailing the protocol.

PC MPP Elizabeth Witmer chastised Matthews in the Legislature on Tuesday for not knowing about the cross-border patient transfer problem.

Matthews answered Witmer by saying the front-line staff at the provincial air ambulance service are fully behind the new leadership changes at ORNGE.

ORNGE founder Dr. Chris Mazza, who earned a salary of $1.4 million, was terminated without severance when the government shut down a series of non-profit companies he had created. Ron McKerlie, a former deputy minister of government services, has taken over as interim CEO of ORNGE, which has been returned to its non-profit status.

Witmer called Matthew’s “lack of response” to her question “unbelievable.”

“You don’t even have the information in your head that’s in your briefing notes,” Witmer said. “It now is up to staff at the ministry to continue to provide information about what is going on at the air ambulance service.”

Both the PCs and the New Democrats are demanding Matthews resign over the scandal, which has been detailed in a series of Star stories for months and include allegations of executive perks, questionable loans and service disruptions that have seen helicopters sit idle for days due to lack of staff.

ORNGE is now the focus of a criminal probe by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Matthews told reporters after question period that when patients are transferred to the U.S. they usually fly on fixed-wing airplanes and those are approved. “Patient safety is not being impacted by this,” she said.

Matthews admitted to reporters she didn’t know about this problem when it was brought up by Witmer.

“You are right, I didn’t know that when I was asked in the House. These are complex organizations, ORNGE is one of hundreds of organizations I have responsibility for,” she said.

Matthews does not believe she should fire the deputy minister of health Saad Rafi for failing to inform her of all the transgressions at ORNGE. “Absolutely not,” she told reporters. “What is important is we are taking the right steps. It is very important to have strong leadership in place.”

However, the Star revealed on Monday that Rick Potter, ORNGE’s aviation chief, pretended to have an MBA from Scotland in order to woo investors into kicking in $275 million for new aircraft.

“I was appalled by Potter’s fake MBA. You know that is just another example of the former leadership of being too lose with the truth,” she said.

Potter is still employed by ORNGE, said Tracey.

A ministry of health official said they are working with Transport Canada, the FAA and others to expedite the approval.

[ipilot54]

Tories, NDP seek all-party ORNGE probe
Rob Ferguson Queen’s Park Bureau
Opposition parties have joined forces to call for an all-party committee to “investigate the ORNGE air ambulance debacle.”
Saying that “events of the past several weeks have shown that this matter has spun entirely out of the McGuinty government’s control,” the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats said a committee is the only way to shine light on the “financial scandal” at ORNGE and delays in launching air ambulance helicopters to emergencies.
“There is much that is yet to be told,” said Tory MPP Frank Klees, adding the commmittee should offer protection to whistleblowers who come forward to testify.
“Whistleblowers are still coming to us on a daily basis...but there is no safe forum for them to be heard,” said New Democrat MPP France Gelinas.
The minority Liberal government would have to agree to such a committee.
Questionable behaviour at the air ambulance service includes a $1.4 million salary to deposed chief executive Dr. Chris Mazza, who also received loans to buy a stately home in Etobicoke.
Health Minister Deb Matthews has called in the OPP to investigate business and other dealings at ORNGE, which now has a senior civil servant as its new chief executive and a new board of directors.
Klees and Gelinas said the committee would not jeopardize the OPP probe.
“To the contrary...any police investigation would certainly benefit from information.”
Klees said two more pilots have quiet because staff are “losing confidence” in the management of the service.

[EA757]

ORNGE motorcycle sold at auction for $30,000
Fri Mar 2 2012
ORNGE chopper sells for $30,001.01

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
Kevin Donovan
Staff Reporter

Sweet ride or symbol of a problem? Either way, ORNGE’s infamous motorcycle was sold at auction Friday for $30,001.01. The bike was valued at $50,000.

The funds raised will be used to purchase medical equipment, ORNGE spokesperson Jennifer Tracey said.

The ORNGE Chopper is one of two motorcycles custom built for the air ambulance service by Orange County Choppers in New York State. According to ORNGE, the $150,000 cost of the two motorcycles (the second bike is worth $100,000) was paid for as a gift by Italian helicopter company AgustaWestland.

At time of sale, the bike had just 22 kilometres on the odometer.

The chopper, which was displayed in the lobby at ORNGE’s “Crystal Palace” headquarters south of Pearson Airport, was wheeled off to auction in January after the Star published stories about the bike, ORNGE’s $144 million purchase of 12 helicopters, and a $6.7 million payment by AgustaWestland to for-profit companies controlled by ORNGE founder Dr. Chris Mazza. The payment came after the helicopter purchase and was for “marketing services.”

The Ontario Provincial Police are investigating ORNGE.

Provincial health ministry critics questioned the optics of the motorcycle remaining at headquarters, with forensic auditors walking past it each day as they pored over ORNGE documents.

At an online auction hosted by the Government of Canada, with a minimum suggested bid of $25,000, a detailed slideshow provided a tour of the custom chopper. The bike, painted orange, with Metzeler tires, a custom seat and many add-ons, is described as a “one-owner bike that has many custom details and defined machinery.” The auction closed midday Friday.

“Best of everything used to build this bike,” says the auction posting. Another section of the posting notes that the chopper was “owned and operated by a government agency.”

The winning bidder is not identified on the site. There is no commission on the sale and all funds raised will return to ORNGE.

The other bike, which is in storage at the Orange County Choppers headquarters in the U.S., is valued at $100,000 and ORNGE spokesperson Tracey said they believe it is owned by AgustaWestland. That bike has a sidecar.

According to press statements in 2009, ORNGE commissioned the two bikes to help draw attention to its (now closed) charity, the ORNGE Foundation. The idea was to hold fundraising events and display this type of “chopper” to draw attention to the helicopters (choppers) that delivered the air ambulance service.

In one event, a Toronto Blue Jay home game against the New York Yankees, Mazza posed astride the motorcycle and was then driven around in the sidecar, lying supine, hands clasped at his waist.

In addition to the two motorcycles, an ORNGE charity also owned a $50,000 speedboat, which Mazza intended to use to teach youths how to water ski and wakeboard safely. That boat was used briefly, then put in storage and sold.

Whoever purchased the bike will likely drive it away from the Downsview auction house where it is stored.

“No shipping,” says the auction posting. “Pickup only.”

[midwingcrisis]

Why a Govt auction? Being familiar with classic and collector car circuit, one would think those auction houses provide a better yield. Unless of course monies due may explain.

[midwingcrisis]

Why a Govt auction? Being familiar with classic and collector car circuit, one would think those auction houses provide a better yield. Unless of course monies due may explain.

[ipilot54]

ORNGE briefing ignored by officials with premier’s office and health, finance ministries

Published On Sun Mar 04 2012
The briefing document was addressed to Health Minister Deb Matthews.
TORONTO STAR/TANYA TALAGA
Kevin Donovan Staff Reporter
The Ontario government employs a small army of officials to guard the public trust.
Did they fall down on the job in failing to spot the problems in the province’s air ambulance service?
Twelve of them — including three from the premier’s office, a minister and four deputy ministers — received a detailed briefing document in January 2011 on the web of for-profit companies ORNGE was setting up.
They were told of plans to “leverage” public assets in a way that ended up enriching ORNGE founder Dr. Chris Mazza and others; how Mazza’s for-profit company had received a $5 million payment (which grew to $6.7 million) from an Italian helicopter firm that Ontario had purchased choppers from. These issues and more are now the subject of an Ontario Provincial Police investigation.
As the ORNGE story develops, questions are being asked by critics about who knew what and when. The premier’s office has refused to answer questions from the Star on the matter, always passing the questions to the health ministry, which has steadfastly accused ORNGE of lying, but never explaining why red flags were ignored. The 12 top officials who received the detailed briefing have not responded to questions from the Star.
The January 2011 briefing note, which the Star first reported on Jan. 14 of this year, is a 35-page document addressed to Health Minister Deb Matthews but copied to the following people:
• In Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office: principal secretary Jamison Steeve; policy advisers Cathy Worden and Dan Carbin. Steeve would have had extra insight into ORNGE, having been a chief of staff to former Health Minister George Smitherman, who created ORNGE.
• In the Ministry of Finance, deputy minister Peter Wallace, who as of last November was promoted to the position of secretary to cabinet, the most powerful civil servant in Ontario. Tim Shorthill, chief of staff at Finance, was also sent a copy.
• At the health ministry, in addition to the minister, the briefing note was sent to deputy minister Saad Rafi; chief of staff Mary Lowe; and Malcolm Bates, director of the Emergency Health Services Branch. Bates is the official with the most oversight responsibility for ORNGE.
• At Infrastructure Ontario, deputy minister David Livingston was sent a copy.
• At Economic Development and Trade, deputy minister Wendy Tilford received a copy. So did chief of staff, Flavio Volpe.
The briefing note and PowerPoint presentation, according to ORNGE, was intended to keep the Ontario government “fully informed about developments in its operation.” ORNGE was set up as a non-profit in 2005 and receives $150 million annually for providing what it describes as an “essential service” to Ontario.
Included in the document are numerous issues that have now become controversial. Upon recent publication by the Star of the following issues referred to in the document, the province has taken action. In January 2011, it appears no questions were asked.
Among the red flags:
• Millions of dollars from Italian helicopter firm AgustaWestland. The briefing notes states that $5 million has flowed to an ORNGE for-profit company from AgustaWestland, which is identified later in the note as a company from which ORNGE purchased 12 state of the art helicopters, using taxpayer financed money. The note states ORNGE is providing “marketing services” based on its successful outfitting of the choppers with medical interiors. ORNGE Global, which ultimately received a total of $6.7 million, was being paid to help AgustaWestland “penetrate” the international market. The OPP is now investigating. An ORNGE insider said officials should have asked if ORNGE purposely overpaid for the helicopters so that money could flow back to the for-profit company.
• Taxpayers footing the bill. The briefing note states that ORNGE’s new ventures are not being paid for out of the public purse. In fact, as the Star has revealed, taxpayer money is used for everything ORNGE does, including paying interest and principal to investors who contributed $275 million to buy new aircraft and an office building. Senior officials at the Ontario Ministry of Finance were briefed separately on the $275 million and ORNGE insiders say it was very clear that public money was paying back investors. Insiders ask how the “Queen’s Park 12” could have missed this.
• ORNGE top executives, who all hold positions at the non-profit ORNGE, cashing in on the for-profit side. A section of the briefing note, with a chart attached, describes the creation of numerous for-profit companies and details how their shares are owned by “Founders,” including Mazza and two vice-presidents (they all lost their jobs when the government shuttered these firms in January). The document says Mazza and others will have a “long-term incentive plan” and participate in “equity upside sharing upon the occurrence of monetization events.” ORNGE insiders question whether Queen’s Park officials asked how much Mazza and others were making. An early story by the Star revealed Mazza received $1.4 million annually, which angered Matthews.
• The 3 per cent solution. The document tells provincial officials that ORNGE Global (the Mazza for-profit company) has near exclusive rights to use the non-profit ORNGE’s “intellectual property” throughout the world. In return, ORNGE Global will pay Ontario 3 per cent of its gross revenues, up to a maximum, the document says, of $200 million. In reality, no money was made and the companies have been closed. ORNGE insiders with knowledge of this question why provincial bureaucrats did not ask how the 3 per cent was arrived at and whether Ontario did not deserve a higher return.
• Gap or no gap. The briefing note tells the province that ORNGE has identified a “service gap,” meaning that 9,000 Ontario people are not served by air ambulance due to funding constraints. However, later in the document, a plan to capitalize on what is described as “excess capacity” in ORNGE is laid out. Insiders say this confusing section should have raised a red flag.
Early last week, the Star asked the premier’s officials and the others for comment but received no response. We asked in January of this year and received a brief response from Neala Barton, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s press secretary. Asked if the premier or any of his officials, including those copied on the document, read it or took any action, Barton said.
“The matter was left to the Ministry of Health who followed up with ORNGE directly, as was appropriate given the letter was addressed to the minister,” Barton said in an email.
The OPP, which reports to the Ontario government, will be in the awkward position of having to question these top 12 officials to see if they read the briefing note and what, if any, response they had for ORNGE.
Tom Lepine, ORNGE’s former chief operating officer, was at the January 2011 Queen’s Park briefing and told the Star their plans were “well received.”
Top people no longer associated with ORNGE (Mazza, lawyer Alf Apps and ORNGE chair Rainer Beltzner) told investors last year that top government officials were backing their plans.
Friday, ORNGE told the Star that it was unable to find if any record existed of a Queen’s Park official responding to the briefing document. The problem, spokesperson Jennifer Tracey said, is that the police investigation has hampered access to ORNGE files. Also, the people involved in the briefing have all left ORNGE>
“We can’t say, at this point with any certainty, what if anything might be in the database or in the records which could be responsive to the question,” Tracey said.
Kevin Donovan can be reached at kdonovan@thestar.ca or (416) 312-3503

[Lost Lake]

Dalton McGui lty??

[whipline]

Everyone is focusing on the money trail right now. Wait for the coroners report on how many deaths are attributed directly to ORNGE. They had a policy in place to wait a minimum of 10 minutes to launch the helicopter after an emergency call was placed so they wouldn't spend money in case the person died. So much for the golden 60.

[Doc]

Everyone is focusing on the money trail right now. Wait for the coroners report on how many deaths are attributed directly to ORNGE. They had a policy in place to wait a minimum of 10 minutes to launch the helicopter after an emergency call was placed so they wouldn't spend money in case the person died. So much for the golden 60.

Seriously? What's the "golden 60"?

[ipilot54]

Hospitals charged for Ornge nurses
karen howlett
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Mar. 05, 2012 6:00AM EST
Hospitals in Ontario have had to absorb the costs of providing nurses on Ornge air ambulance flights, including overtime wages for those who travel long distances from their communities.
The province’s air ambulance service does not have enough paramedics to staff its helicopters and airplanes, forcing the province’s cash-strapped hospitals to often provide their own medical escorts for patients. Not only are hospitals dipping into their operating budgets to pay the nurses’ wages, including overtime, they also have to backfill their shifts when they are short staffed themselves.
All too frequently, nurses have been left to find their own way home. One nurse was stranded at a deserted Hamilton airport hangar in the middle of the night. Another nurse had to take a three- hour taxi ride from Winnipeg to her home in Fort Frances in northwestern Ontario.
The problem began in 2006, when Ornge took over all aspects of the province’s air ambulance service from the Ontario government. Prior to then, each air ambulance had to be staffed with two paramedics around the clock – they were fined $75 an hour for failing to comply.
Hospitals and the union representing paramedics have sounded the alarm about the chronic staffing shortage. Ornge’s new leadership is attempting to address the staff shortage by, among other things, having part-time paramedics fill shifts, said Rob Smith, executive vice-president of operations.
The shortage of key front-line staff at Ornge is symptomatic of an organization that focused on trying to make money instead of ensuring that patients get to the right place at the right time, say health care executives. As a result, they say, Ornge’s priorities are not always in sync with those of hospitals.
Frustration with Ornge has prompted a border hospital in Ontario to use the province’s air ambulance service as a last resort, opting instead to send critically ill patients to the United States.
But hospitals in Northern Ontario have no such option. The hospital in Fort Frances has a contract with a local cab company to get nurses home – the fare from Winnipeg costs $538. Hospitals in the north often transfer patients long distances to Southern Ontario, for medical procedures not available at home.
“It’s a huge issue for us,” said Barb Linkewich, chief nursing officer at Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre. “We are not in the transportation business. We provide patient care in hospitals.”
One hospital executive said nurses are typically gone 12-to-18 hours, costing $500 to $750 in wages, including time and a half. Ornge reimburses travel costs for hospitals that submit invoices, but not wages.
Thunder Bay Regional Hospital frequently provides nursing escorts, said Rhonda Crocker-Ellacott, its executive vice-president of patient care. While this poses a huge challenge, she said, time is of the essence.
“These are critically ill patients,” Ms. Crocker-Ellacott said. “We can’t do anything more for that patient. It’s just wasting time.”
Windsor Regional Hospital gave doctors the go-ahead last month to whisk patients across the border to Detroit by land ambulance – a 15 minute trip, door to door – before medicare approves the out-of-province costs, said its chief executive officer David Musyj.
“When our ER physicians are faced with a two-hour wait, minimum, or 15 minutes, time is of the essence,” Mr. Musyj said.
Of the 61 patients Windsor Regional transferred to other hospitals last year, 52 were sent to Detroit.
For border hospitals, Dr. Musyj said, geography prevails over the sanctity of medicare. The new policy follows a complaint the hospital made against Ornge over an emergency department nurse who was left at the Hamilton hangar.
Catherine Marcoux accompanied a patient who was transferred to a Hamilton hospital by air ambulance in 2009. When the pilots dropped her off at the hangar at 1 a.m. in the morning, Ms. Marcoux said, she waited 4.5 hours for Ornge to send a car to pick her up.
But she said she would not hesitate to do it again, if it means her patient can get treatment faster.
“I would rather [a patient] get transported,” Ms. Marcoux said. “So, all in all, it wasn’t too bad.”
The union representing paramedics complained about staff shortages in an October, 2011 letter to the Ministry of Health, saying it is concerned that Ornge was violating the ambulance act by having just one paramedic aboard some flights.
Prior to Ornge taking over the air ambulance service, Voyageur Airlines Ltd. staffed its aircraft with two paramedics.
“It should never happen that an air ambulance has to take a nurse,” said Max Shapiro, chief executive officer of Voyageur. “That’s the whole reason behind having dedicated air ambulances.”

[whipline]

The golden 60 is the first 60 minutes after the accident. Simple concept, the longer you go without emergency care the less chance you have to survive. ORNGE should have been dispatching critical care immediately. Their policy was the opposite.