Foreign investment firms pay for medical clinics in Quebec which receive millions from the government

At least four private surgery clinics, some of which received tens of millions of dollars from the government to operate on Quebecers, have been sold to foreign interests in recent years.

“It worries me that surgery centers established in Quebec are being bought by foreigners. […] And it’s even worse when they receive money from the government which pays for the patients,” says surgeon Michel Gagner.

Himself the owner of a private clinic and recent purchaser of the Metropolitan Surgery Center in Montreal, he believes that doctors must remain owners, because they alone have ethical obligations towards patients.

In 2022, the largest player in private surgery in Quebec, Chirurgie DIX30, was sold in part to an Alberta company, Clearpoint Health Network.

A company created by the Canadian investment firm Kensington.

Present in six provinces in Canada, Clearpoint’s mission is to become the largest private player in surgery in the country according to its website.

120 millions $

In Quebec, Clearpoint also owns Opmédic in Laval. The company boasts that 90% of surgeries performed in the province come from agreements with health establishments.

Moreover, for five years, Chirurgie DIX30 alone has received up to $120 million from CIUSSS and CISSS to operate on patients, according to documents obtained under access to information by The Journal.

During the same period, another private surgery center, RocklandMD, was granted nearly 65 million from Quebec. The majority shareholder of RocklandMD is Almaviva Santé Canada, a subsidiary of the fourth largest group of private clinics in France.

Kuwait and China

And in turn, Almaviva Santé is partly owned by an investment fund, supported by Kuwait.

Another private clinic in Quebec to have passed into the hands of foreigners is ExcelleMD, in 2020, now under the governance of Well Health Clinics Canada. Based in Vancouver, this company is partly controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Ka-Shing, who holds 11% of the shares, while his investment company, Horizon Ventures, holds 7%.

ExcelleMD has private clinics in Montreal, Terrebonne and Saint-Eustache.

“Quebec is a vast market of opportunity for us,” Well Health said in a statement, naming the purchase of ExcelleMD as the first steps toward expansion in the province.

The College worried

This situation worries the College of Physicians of Quebec, particularly for the protection of the public.

The College does not have the powers to act with owners, who are not doctors, and who do not take into account ethical obligations. “The government must give us the necessary levers so that we can regulate the services offered by these clinics,” argues President Mauril Gaudreault.

He worries that these clinics could close without notice and that the College had to go to court to obtain medical records.

“The priority is profit at the expense of patients and not care,” worries Xavier Gauvreau, at Médecins québécois pour le regime public (MQRP), about these large investment groups. In the private sector, clinics that operate for the public network are guaranteed a profit margin of at least 15%, depending on current agreements.

The four clinics did not respond to Journal.

Who owns these clinics?

DIX30 Surgery and Opmédic

The second largest shareholder of Chirurgie DIX30 is a subsidiary of Clearpoint Health Network, which also owns Opmédic. It is financed by the investment firm Kensington.

Rockland MD

The French company Almaviva Santé owns significant shares of Rockland MD in Montreal. And Almaviva has been 60% owned since 2021 by a British investment fund, called “Wren House Infrastructure” directly linked to Kuwait.

ExcelleMD

Four clinics in Quebec, which have become the property of Well Health Clinic Canada. A company partly controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Ka-Shing. Well Health invests heavily in private clinics, with the help of Li Ka-Shing and an unnamed sovereign investment fund.