Rejected Did 'big politics' kill P3 plan to use latest medical imaging technology?

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Chris Morris
Telegraph-Journal

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FREDERICTON - Jamal Instrum couldn't believe his ears after he finished outlining a proposal that would bring to New Brunswick the most advanced medical diagnostic equipment now available.

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David Smith/For the Telegraph-Journal

Jamal Instrum, CEO of Atlantic Medical Imaging Services Inc., questions why the provincial government turned down his proposal for a $65-million, public-private partnership that would have brought to New Brunswick state-of-the-art medical imaging equipment and funding to establish facilities to train medical technicians.

Despite the fact that the state-of-the-art devices could cut waiting times for medical procedures, significantly reduce radiation exposure and provide doctors with cutting-edge technology, senior health officials at the Fredericton meeting were curiously unimpressed.

"The people of New Brunswick don't need Cadillacs," one official told Instrum. "A Chev is good enough for us."

Instrum, CEO of Atlantic Medical Imaging Services Inc. (AMIS), was stunned by the comment.

"I was shocked," he said in an interview with the Telegraph-Journal, recalling the meeting last January.

"I realized then that these people did not care one iota about the best interests of the people of New Brunswick."

Instrum, a Fredericton businessman, is going public with his frustrating effort to interest the New Brunswick government in a $65-million, public-private partnership that had the potential to open the door to leading-edge health services across the province.

The proposal, which had been in the works since December 2007, would have been a medicare, fee-for-service model operating with equipment and in centres that were privately owned and maintained. It would not have been privatization of services in the traditional sense.

If it was ever put in place, doctors in this province would be able to capture crystal-clear images on advanced computerized tomography (CT) scanners that can pinpoint cardiac weaknesses in a single heartbeat.

Other imaging devices, developed by Toshiba Medical Systems, would allow doctors to spot such things as a slightly out-of-sync bone rubbing against another as a patient moves a sore wrist or ankle.

The images are breathtakingly clear and precise.

"We would have the world's best diagnostic imaging equipment and services," Instrum said.

"It would improve the quality of our lives, doctors would be able to diagnose faster and without sedation "¦ This could be the core foundation for taking our health-care system in a whole new direction without breaking the bank."

Instrum's company, in partnership with Toshiba, would cover the capital costs of providing the equipment and the diagnostic centres in five locations across the province - Saint John, Fredericton, Charlo and two in Moncton. The investment would total about $49 million.

In addition, Toshiba had agreed to put up the money - $16 million over 10 years - for a world-class training facility on diagnostic imaging to be housed at the Saint John campus of the University of New Brunswick.

"It sounded potentially very interesting," Greg Kealey, vice-president of research at UNB, said in an interview.

"If they (AMIS) had got the contract, there would have been an arrangement to create an international training operation to train technicians on this particular machinery. The idea was we would bring in people from all over, train technicians for New Brunswick and around the world. It was the kind of thing we were willing to explore."

But Kealey said the university has learned over the years not to get too excited about potential new developments until it sees signed deals. That did not happen in this case and, it appears, will never happen.

Despite the fact that there was early enthusiasm in the provincial government about Instrum's proposal, it came to a shuddering halt in the office of Premier Shawn Graham in April.

After months of presentations, meetings and correspondence, Instrum got a five-line letter from Graham saying thanks, but no thanks.

"It was killed by Shawn Graham," Instrum said. "I don't know why "¦ I have my suspicions "¦ but I don't have answers.

"I think there's big politics going on at the premier's office."

The health minister at the time, Mike Murphy, seemed to be one of the early supporters of private clinics for diagnostic imaging.

In fact, he promised legislation last spring addressing the issue of private clinics in the province.

"I am going to wrestle wait times down as much as I can by whatever method possible - the private sector or the public sector," he said in an interview in January.

The private clinic legislation never materialized.

Murphy said in an interview that the province decided Instrum's numbers didn't add up. As well, he said the whole issue of private health services is still being studied by the government - not surprising given the fact that such clinics remain a political hot potato in Canada.

"Our interpretation of the figures do not coincide with his interpretation," Murphy said, explaining why the province did not accept Instrum's proposal.

Murphy also dismissed Instrum's claim that the reason his proposal was dropped was because the Liberal government heavily favours the General Electric Co. when it comes to purchasing medical equipment.

Instrum claims GE has an inside track with the Liberals.

But Murphy said there's a purchasing process bidders must go through.

"We look for the best deals," he said.

Certainly, several recent contracts for the provision of digital mammography equipment in Moncton, Saint John and the Miramichi all have gone to GE, the world's biggest maker of medical-imaging equipment.

One competitive bidder said, on condition of anonymity, that the bidding process was not open or fair, especially in the Miramichi purchase.

That competitor doubts the province is getting the best deals or the best equipment.

"There do appear to be political connections at work here," the competitor said.

Margaret-Ann Blaney, health critic for the Progressive Conservative opposition, said she is going to look into what happened with the AMIS proposal and the allegations concerning GE.

She said it is curious that, at first, there were green lights all over the place for the AMIS proposal and then, suddenly, the brakes went on in Graham's office and it came to a screeching halt.

"He (Instrum) doesn't understand what happened," Blaney said.

"The intriguing part is the absolute stranglehold GE seems to have on the medical equipment side in the province. There are legitimate questions - is public purchasing being circumvented?"

Blaney said the opposition is "sufficiently concerned" that she will be trying to get answers through right-to-information requests.

In the meantime, Instrum is hoping people will ask questions of their politicians about what happened in his case.

"I was offering the best in the world to this province," he said. "This proposal would have significantly improved patient care in this province and I believe it would have saved the government money."