Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) CEO Andrew Will has apologized to health-care workers and commended their patience as a long-awaited but flawed new payroll system was rolled out.
I want to extend a huge thank you to all of our staff and physicians for their patience and cooperation as we implemented this new system at SHA, Will said at a news conference Friday.
The Administrative Information Management System, called AIMS, is a human resources management software that allows you to manage, among other things, expense reports, invoices and salaries.
It was supposed to be operational in May 2021, but its postponed launch in November 2022 fell through, so SHA had to revert to the old payroll system in the meantime.
AIMS was rolled out in early summer, but healthcare professionals quickly decried a flawed payroll system.
Several reported not being paid on time or not being paid at all in some cases.
I recognize the impact that this first phase had on our employees, on our doctors, and I want to say that I apologize for the experience, says Mr. Will.
I want our teams to know that we are committed to improving this experience and addressing challenges gradually.
AIMS was supposed to cost $86 million, but the cost skyrocketed to $240 million.
In June, Mark Anderson, co-chair of the AIMS steering committee and CEO of 3sHealth, which provides payroll and scheduling services to Saskatchewan’s health-care system, said the project cost $203 million.
In July, Mr Anderson said the AIMS system is expected to be fully operational and staff using it in its entirety by 2025.
There are still two phases to be implemented: on the one hand, the scheduling of employees, and on the other hand, the recording of hours worked.
For his part, Andrew Will indicated that future updates would include an automated scheduling function.
With information from Liam O’Connor
