CEO thanks staff, physicians for patience, co-operation in implementing AIMS system
Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) chief executive officer has apologized for the troubles that its payroll system has caused workers.
Early in the summer, the SHA began the relaunch of the Administrative Information Management System (AIMS).
Initially launched in 2021 to manage payroll, scheduling, human resources and finances, the AIMS payroll system was quickly shut down due to several problems.
The relaunch of the system this year is taking place in phases, with the first phase including only expense reports, invoices and payroll features, according to a CBC report.
With the relaunch, however, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 5430 raised a concern, claiming that troubles with AIMS are leaving doctors thousands of dollars short.
Apologies for payroll problems
"I acknowledge the impacts that this first phase has had on our employees, on our physicians, and I just want to say … I apologize for the experience that our teams have had," said Andrew Will, SHA CEO, in a news conference on Friday, according to CBC.
Will also thanked SHA physicians and staff for their patience amid the current rollout.
"I just want to say a huge thank you to all of our staff, our physicians for their patience, for their co-operation as we work through implementing this new system in the SHA,” he said in the report.
"I want them to know that we are committed to improving that experience and addressing challenges as they come up."
The apology came after the Opposition Saskatchewan New Democratic Party called on the provincial government to launch an investigation into the issues surrounding SHA’s payroll system.
“We need that investigation to be able to know what’s went wrong, what needs correcting, and how deep the problems go. There’s been such a lack of transparency on this. We need to open that up,” said Vicki Mowat, health critic with the NDP, referring to the SHA’s Administrative Information Management System (AIMS), according to a Global News report.
How much does AIMS cost in Saskatchewan?
Mark Anderson, the co-chair of the AIMS executive steering committee and the CEO of 3sHealth – the company behind AIMS – said, as of June, that the project has cost $203 million, noted CBC.
Despite the issues with AIMS, Will emphasized the need to complete the implementation of the system.
"Our payroll system was 50 years old. It was in a programming language that they don't even train people how to program in today's world," he said, according to CBC.
"We were at significant risk of that system coming down and not being able to pay any of our employees."
Previously, the SHA noted that it is addressing all pay issues in its relaunched payroll system, claiming that all missing pay have been delivered to workers. However, one health-care worker said that that claim was just untrue.
