Sam Mraiche, the CEO of his telemedicine company MHCare Medical Corp., has now found himself at the center of a fiery, bicameral showdown. This month’s op-ed about Alberta’s health care procurement system. His company has secured contracts exceeding $600 million from Alberta Health Services (AHS), raising questions about ethics, transparency, and the relationship between government officials and private companies. That scrutiny only ramped up after Premier Danielle Smith’s government moved to relax the province’s ethics guidelines in early 2023. These loopholes created ample opportunities for Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and political staff to accept gifts.
The controversy surrounding Mraiche isn’t just about his business dealings. Most significantly, MHCare had received a $70 million contract to supply pediatric pain-relief medication. Yet, they have only provided a third of that total towards those needs to date. Mraiche was vital in helping broker a joint agreement between his firm and a provider of COVID-19 home test supplies. Unfortunately, that transaction served as fodder for a court battle that ensued. AHS’s senior purchasing official, Jitendra Prasad, was central to brokering this complex deal. As a personal aside, his involvement adds complexity to my personal narrative of procurement practices in Alberta.
In December 2023, Khalil Mraiche, Sam Mraiche’s son, left his position as a policy adviser in Smith’s government. His improbable appointment caused shockwaves because of the cozy relationship between his father’s real estate empire and provincial contracts. Khalil’s government employment contract even bore the signature of Khalil’s then boss—Premier Smith herself. This has brought even greater attention to the web of connections influencing health care procurement in Alberta.
Danielle Smith announced a plan to purchase five million bottles of liquid children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen from Atabay Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals, a Turkish company. This decision has caused a national stir because of MHCare’s role in mediating negotiations with BTNX, a Canadian medical supply company.
The context of these events is the accusations levied by Athana Mentzelopoulos, former CEO of AHS. She claimed that her firing was related to her probe. That investigation looked at the relationships between procurement officials and the firms they awarded contracts to. Mentzelopoulos alleged that she had been pressured to help make deals for privately run surgical centers. These issues should shake anyone’s confidence to the core about the integrity of AHS’s procurement process.
To further aggravate the controversy, retired Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant had released a report highly critical of Alberta’s procurement practices. His findings uncovered a lack of basic information on the selection process for both MHCare and Atabay. This begs troubling questions about the transparency surrounding these contracts.
In response to inquiries about these developments, Sam Mraiche defended his business practices, stating, “Most of these questions provided contain a host of oftentimes wildly inaccurate or misleading information.” Mraiche has repeatedly described his commitment to creating thriving businesses rooted in the values of hard work and integrity.
“Mr. Mraiche has laboured hard since his youth to build successful and thriving businesses based solely on his work ethic and entrepreneurial instinct.” – Scott Hutchison
Though the allegations tell a different story, many who know Mraiche personally insist he is kind and personable. Nadim Haidar commented on Mraiche’s character, saying, “He’s very generous. He never shuts his door against anybody.” Even as the broader controversy continued to unfold, these testimonials offered a glimpse of the warmer, more human side of Mraiche.
Mraiche himself expressed frustration with the current situation, reportedly commenting, “You better hope there’s another wave that needs rapid tests.” This quote illustrates, beyond the fact that he personally has deep experience with past procurement, his attitude towards current and future public health needs.
“No one’s wishing anything. It’s just going with the flow.” – Sam Mraiche
The moves by Smith’s government to overhaul ethics regulations in the province have created a firestorm of opposition among political leaders. This is highly problematic, as critics caution that relaxing gift restrictions can lead to serious conflicts of interest. For one, it may make government engagement with private enterprise more difficult.
Scott Hutchison, a spokesperson for Mraiche, contended that many criticisms directed at him are unfounded. “appear to bear no relevance to AHS procurement, nor do they appear to concern matters in the public interest.”
