Alberta surgical companys fees double public costs, according to AHS documents [Video]

A private surgical company at the heart of allegations the Alberta government interfered to secure overpriced medical contracts was billing taxpayers more than twice as much per procedure than it would cost in a public hospital, according to Alberta Health Services documents.

An internal chart included in an email sent by the former head of Alberta Health Services to a Health Ministry bureaucrat, obtained by The Canadian Press, indicates estimates for hip replacements in Edmonton at the public health agency’s hospitals was just over $4,000 as of last fall.

The chart says the firm Alberta Surgical Group was charging the government $8,300. The company has a surgical facility in south Edmonton.

The cost listed for another private competitor was just over $3,600.

Rose Carter, a lawyer for the company, said its contract prohibits it from discussing details, so “ASG is unable to publicly defend itself.”

She pointed to numbers from a 2021-22 Canadian Institute …