A tale of two CEOs
BOTH MONTREAL SUPERHOSPITALS in hot water over their choices of chief executives
With Christian Paire having being relieved of his duties this week, the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal finds itself in a circumstance similar to its anglophone counterpart: in hot water over the appointment of a flamboyant executive director.
Headhunted from abroad, hired with plush salaries and bonuses, and presented to the public with fanfare as men of action to spur the construction of the two superhospital projects — in time and under budget — both former directors have plunged their institutions into financial difficulty and leadership crisis.
Paire, named in 2009 as CHUM’s director, was suspended with pay Tuesday after a stinging report from the provincial auditor general that called into question his salary and management irregularities.
Arthur Porter, former head of the McGill University Health Centre, abruptly quit his job two years ago, in December 2011, less than three months before the end of his contract, over concerns about his outside business interests. Porter was arrested in Panama in May and is fighting extradition to Quebec to face criminal charges arising from the McGill hospital construction contract.
A government “accompagnateur” — or special monitor — was appointed to oversee the MUHC on a daily basis last year, and two such monitors were appointed to the CHUM in October.
There’s another similarity between the Porter and Paire controversies. In both cases, headhunters and hospital boards that had approved their hiring seemed unaware of problems that their choices had encountered in their previous positions.
Five months after Paire left CHU Rouen, the eighthlargest teaching hospital in France, it was placed under trusteeship in May 2009 for running a deficit of 803,000 euros.
The Detroit Medical Center where Porter was CEO from 1999 through 2003 had to secure a $50-million bailout in public funding to stabilize its finances in 2004.
That year, Porter was hired to oversee McGill’s $1.3-billion new superhospital.
The financial instability of the institutions that the two men formerly oversaw raises questions about hiring and vetting practices, said the Montreal head of a health workers union.
A simple Google search of their names would have brought up “irregularities” in several media stories, said Francis Collin, a board member of the Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS).
“Why are we always trying to get superstars to run our superhospitals? We have local talent that would be more aware of local needs,” Collin said. “They likely would not be expecting outrageously high salaries.”
Paire’s suspension provoked lawyer Patrick Molinari, head of the CHUM’s administrative board from 2002 until 2012, to defend his board’s unanimous decision to hire Paire as the best candidate at the time.
Paire was relieved of his duties based on allegations of illegal payments raised by the provincial auditor general, Molinari said in a letter to the media, but those fees were above board because they had been authorized based on what’s permitted by law — in full knowledge of all players at all levels of government.
Paire’s employment conditions were negotiated with the full participation of the Quebec Health Department and its staff, and approved by the Université de Montréal. The selection committee included five people from the Quebec Health and Social Services Department, as well as one person from the Montreal Health and Social Services Agency.
The Treasury Board had authorized a hiring bonus “on the recommendations of the (health) minister, albeit at my request, but without doubt … because the regulations permitted it,” Molinari said.
When Paire’s contract was authorized by the Montreal health agency — with the health minister’s blessing — it included “additional remuneration,” Molinari said, which had been approved by the Quebec Treasury Board since 2003 for the directors of both the CHUM and MUHC “in recognition of the challenges” that their workload presented in moving the superhospitals forward.
Porter and Paire received a CEO salary and a second, university teaching salary.
Officials at the Montreal health agency would not comment on Wednesday. Calls to the Quebec health minister were not answered.
Paire sued U de M after it stopped paying his $80,000 second salary in 2011 because he does not teach.
As for Porter, according to Superior Court documents, McGill is suing its former director for $317,154 outstanding on a loan of $500,000 made in 2008, as well as for an overpayment of $30,132.
Following Tuesday’s suspension, Coalition Avenir Québec leader François Legault criticized Premier Pauline Marois for what he called a lack of accountability on the part of the provincial health system.
A parliamentary commission held in June examined allegations about Paire and the CHUM’s management.
The saga of the CHUM and its CEO had been known for months yet Paire’s contract was extended in August with the Quebec Health Department’s full approval, Legault said earlier Wednesday at the National Assembly.
“Everyone knew, but no one is responsible. Neither the minister nor the health agency, or the board of directors or the managing director. For a week, all we are seeing are people who are passing the buck.”
The CHUM superhospital is set to open in 2016 at a cost of nearly $2 billion. The McGill complex is expected to open in the summer of 2015.