Travel nurse company launches lawsuit against Vitalité

A question caregiver institution is suing Vitalité Health Network implicit alleged breaches of contract, including non-payments, arsenic good arsenic anticipatory breach of contract.

Canadian Health Labs filed its suit with the Court of King's Bench successful Saint John connected March 21 — 2 days aft the provincial government introduced authorities to get retired of the contract with the Toronto-based institution and debar facing ineligible oregon fiscal penalties.

That authorities has not yet been passed.

Vitalité cancelled the remaining shifts of question nurses employed by Canadian Health Labs (CHL) connected Jan. 30, adjacent though its arguable declaration with the backstage staffing bureau wasn't acceptable to expire until adjacent year.

In its statement of claim, Canadian Health Labs alleges it has suffered nonaccomplishment and damages, and volition proceed to endure "irreparable" harm to its reputation.

It is seeking damages successful a fig of areas, including for alleged unpaid invoices, for breach of the work of bully faith, for "unjust enrichment," and for "intentional interference with economical relations," arsenic good arsenic costs. The claim is besides asking for pre-judgment involvement astatine a complaint of 7 per cent.

WATCH | Premier Holt says she's 'quite confident' successful projected authorities to get N.B. retired of contract:

In addition, the company is seeking a declaration that its declaration is valid and legally binding, and a permanent injunction to forestall Vitalité from soliciting the company's nurses to enactment straight for the determination wellness network instead of another question caregiver institution it deals with.

None of the allegations person been proven successful court.

Vitalité has not yet filed a response. In an emailed connection Thursday, an unidentified spokesperson for the determination wellness web said it not been served "with immoderate connection of assertion oregon different originating process earlier the Court of King's Bench.

"We urge that you interaction CHL. We are not successful a presumption to talk to their ineligible actions oregon intentions."

Canadian Health Labs declined to remark done spokesperson Tom Vernon.

No program for nationalist inquiry

The Department of Health did not instantly respond to a petition for remark but Premier Susan Holt addressed the suit during her play update connected U.S. tariffs successful Fredericton connected Thursday.

She called the timing of the suit "interesting" and vowed to combat to support New Brunswickers against what she called "a atrocious contract."

"I consciousness rather assured successful the authorities that we've enactment forward. I deliberation it's beardown and it volition bash what we request it to do," she said.

"I deliberation our lawsuit against CHL is strong. In the look of a atrocious contract, I don't cognize however they tin support it, but we're putting the mechanisms successful spot to support New Brunswickers."

Although the Liberals called for a nationalist enquiry into the question caregiver contracts portion successful Opposition, Holt said her authorities has nary plans for 1 "at this point," but they bash program to get to the bottommost of however this declaration happened.

Vitalité's 3 contracts with the company, which covered from July 2022 to February 2026, totalled $98 million, according to Auditor General Martin. The institution charged about $300 an hr per caregiver — astir six times what a section unit caregiver earns.

While the wellness strategy was facing dire staffing shortages successful 2022 erstwhile the authorization signed its archetypal contract with Canadian Health Labs, the deployment of question nurses successful Vitalité's hospitals "did not correlate with unit absences owed to COVID-19," Martin recovered successful June.

"The contracts with backstage nursing agencies were not reflective of champion practices and did not show worth for money," helium said.

Terms of the contract

According to the connection of claim, the parties entered a declaration connected Dec. 2, 2022, wherever the company would proviso Vitalité with quality wellness resources to "fill captious staffing gaps" successful its hospitals.

The declaration was slated to extremity connected Feb. 5, 2026, "subject to rights of hold oregon aboriginal termination acceptable retired successful the contract," the papers states.

Under the contract, the institution was to deploy quality wellness resources successful teams, with each squad consisting of an agreed upon ratio of registered nurses, licensed applicable nurses, and administrative and absorption staff.

The declaration required Vitalité to conscionable definite deployment levels measured successful "team days" — a definite fig of hours being worked by the corporate team per day.

Generally, Vitalité was to compensate the company by mode of a fixed interest per squad day.

Vitalité was besides liable for paying Canadian Health Labs' expenses, including question and boarding costs for the workers, according to the connection of claim.

'Numerous breaches'

The institution alleges Vitalité committed "numerous breaches." These see that Vitalité has not paid agreed amounts for services, stopped utilizing CHL nurses earlier the declaration expired, and encouraged nurses to permission the company.

Vitalité "repeatedly failed" to conscionable the outgo presumption and timelines nether the contract, according to the tribunal document. "Several invoices" stay unpaid our partially unpaid, it says.

"The nonaccomplishment of Vitalité to wage the outstanding amounts constitutes a breach of the presumption of the contract, is grounds of atrocious religion successful commercialized dealings by Vitalité and results successful an unjust enrichment to Vitalité," the company claims.

Canadian Health labs also alleges Vitalité underpaid for immoderate services.

The company, "in a bully religion effort to assistance resoluteness immoderate of the issues betwixt the parties regarding its different contractual relationships … temporarily agreed to transportation definite Teams deployed by Vitalité under different declaration betwixt the parties to beryllium utilized nether this contract."

No details astir the different contracts are provided, but the transferred teams had a higher proportionality of registered nurses to licensed applicable nurses and outgo more, yet Vitalité "refused oregon failed" to compensate the company for the higher-cost teams oregon close the ratios.

The institution contends Vitalité stopped utilizing its nurses connected Jan. 30, has indicated it does not mean immoderate further deployments, and refuses to sermon the matter, referring to this arsenic "anticipatory breach of contract."

On Jan. 30, Vitalité advised CHL nurses that the declaration was being cancelled and that they should question alternate employment with either Vitalité or different question agency, 

This "unauthorized communication" contained "misrepresentations, factual inconsistencies, and confidential and privileged information," according to the connection of claim.

It resulted successful "significant contractual turmoil" betwixt Canadian Health Labs and its quality wellness resources, important disruption betwixt CHL and its different logistics enactment providers, and important reputational harm, the institution contends.