Baycrest Health Sciences has fired, or accepted the resignations of, about 150 employees for alleged health benefits fraud worth millions of dollars.The prominent geriatric facility on Bathurst St. said the losses are estimated at $4 million to $5 million, but the final tally — these include the cost of unravelling the mess, hiring replacement staff and implementing preventative measures — has yet to be calculated.One person scammed the plan, which is 75-per-cent financed by taxpayers and 25-per-cent by employees, by as much as $100,000, while most of those involved racked up about $20,000 in bogus claims, the hospital alleged.Baycrest said in a statement emailed to the Star that concerns about misuse of health-care benefits arose last year. The facility says it retained an outside auditor to look into the situation, and the auditor found “irregularities.” A subsequent workplace investigation discovered many employees had been misusing the benefits plan for years.“We are extremely disappointed by these findings as we view any misuse of our benefits plan as inconsistent with our policies and procedures and incompatible with our Baycrest values,” the statement reads.Michelle Petch Gotuzzo, spokeswoman for Baycrest, said the alleged scheme involved submission of receipts for services or products that weren’t received. In other cases, a person would claim reimbursement for an authorized item such as a compression stocking, but use the cash to buy something unauthorized.Employees involved spanned a variety of job categories, Petch Gotuzzo said.None of the allegations against the terminated employees have been proven in court.In all, Baycrest employs about 1,800 people.Provincial Health Minister Christine Elliott has been in contact with Baycrest and the Ontario Hospital Association and meetings are planned to discuss next steps, her spokesman, Travis Kann, said on Thursday.“From what we currently know, it’s clear ...
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