Kramer released from contract, Ontario's eHealth scandal blows up

The immediate release of the head of eHealth Ontario from her contract yesterday seemed to be an acknowledgment of the spending scandal rocking Ontario, although there was more fallout when it was revealed that Kramer was given a huge severance payment.

Sarah Kramer, appointed President of Ontario's Ehealth project just six months ago, was fired yesterday, taking $317,000 with her in severance pay. Ontario tax payers will be happy to know that Kramer will not receive any additional benefits on top of all the money she's earned during her short-lived contract. The revocation of Kramer's contract followed the submission of a letter to Caplan from Dr. Hudson and the Board of Directors of Ehealth Ontario. Ontario's opposition parties are demanding that Kramer repay the severance package. Controversy had erupted at the end of May when an investigation by CBC TV revealed documents detailing nearly $5 million of untendered contracts were awarded to long-time associates of Kramer and Chair of Ehealth Ontario, Dr. Alan Hudson. Conservative Health Critic, Elizabeth Witmer (former Minister of Heatlh) also obtained information about spending practices through a freedom of information request. Documentation showed that not only did Kramer award herself a huge bonus of $114,000 only months into her contract, she and colleague, Dr. Alan Hudson had awarded contracts to long-term associates without requiring them to go through a tendering process. The consultants who were granted the contracts had invoiced the province for high daily fees, as well invoicing the province for things such as answering emails or getting a cup of coffee. Kramer had cited urgency as the justification for the high fees and untendered contracts. Opposition critics are still asking for Hudson's dismissal, as well as David Caplan's resignation. Caplan says he won't step down. Ehealth Ontario's predecessor agency, SSHA (Smart Systems for Health Agency) had been experiencing difficulty prior to the spending scandal. Ehealth Ontario is essentially a new name for SSHA, which was created in 2002 for the purpose of setting up an electronic health document-sharing network. The agency was already facing scrutiny because of large expenditures and missed deadlines, with very little to show for the years of spending. Until yesterday, Ontario's Minister of Health, David Caplan, had been defending Kramer. While he would not say that he fired Kramer, he said that revoking her appointment was necessary to 'restore public confidence.' It is a sudden move that critics say is designed to disarm criticism, particularly because Ontario's legislature has halted for the summer. Apparently Caplan's decision was prompted by the letter from CEO Hudson and the Board of Directors, which said that Kramer had agreed to step down. Kramer has been replaced by Ron Sapsford, who had held the post of Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care. Ehealth Communications Advisor, Heather Brown, reached by email earlier today, said she could not add any further information to the story other than that contained in the letter from Ehealth Board to Minister Caplan. On June 1st, the Board of Ehealth Ontario called in PriceWaterhouseCoopers to conduct

a thorough third-party audit of the organization on matters of procurement, employment, expenditure and related matters. This review will include all matters of recent public interest.

It is not known when the results of this audit will be released. eHealth Ontario is an undertaking by the Ministry of Health to improve patient care through creating the capability of sharing patient files on-line. The "modernization" of Ontario's ability to share patient records has been lauded being an improvement for patient care, as well as being cost-effective and efficient. The irony now is that eHealth Ontario has cost Ontario some $647 million. The system was to be up and running by 2015. Kramer had been appointed to the position because she was known as a person who got things done.