Overview
- The report tabled November 19 totals taxpayer exposure at $125 million across abandoned or unsuccessful lab procurements, with about $109 million tied to the DynaLIFE deal including $77 million for outsourcing and $32 million to acquire the company’s remaining assets and liabilities.
- The audit concludes procurement rules, due diligence and risk assessment were not followed and says involvement by the health minister and department undermined AHS autonomy and sidelined internal advice.
- Patient services deteriorated during the 2022–23 transition, with longer waits, slower turnaround times and more errors, including Calgary clinical turnaround up 27 percent, histology up 42 percent, microbiology rising from one hour to 5.2 hours, and 145 patient-impacting errors in May 2023 versus fewer than 25 in November 2022.
- DynaLIFE assumed community lab work in December 2022, AHS ended the agreement in August 2023 at the company’s request over financial concerns, and services returned to the public provider in September 2023 with operations stabilized.
- The auditor reports restricted access during the review, citing heavy redactions, destroyed notes and lawyer-vetted disclosures, and recommends strict adherence to procurement processes and improved record-keeping as related probes continue.