Sask. auditor says Health Authority's new payroll system could cost $240M, calls for report

The Saskatchewan Health Authority's (SHA's) yet-to-launch new payroll system could reach a cost of $240 million, triple the initial projection, according to the province's auditor.

Tara Clemett released Volume 2 of her annual auditor's report on Wednesday.

One of the audits conducted involved the SHA. One of Clemett's recommendations was for the SHA to conduct a report on the "lessons learned" from its failed rollout of its new Administrative Information Management System (AIMS) payroll system.

"This IT system project implementation has not gone well for the Saskatchewan Health Authority and they definitely need to do a lessons learned report because we have other significant IT projects that are ongoing in government," Clemett told reporters on Wednesday.

The auditor's report said the SHA signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health in November 2018 for the ministry to provide $86 million to cover the cost of the project, which was to be up and running in May 2021.

The report said the cost grew to $127 million by Mar. 31, 2022. The two updated their agreement and a new cost of $144 million. AIMS was launched unsuccessfully in November 2022. The SHA had to then return to its old payroll systems.

By Mar. 31, 2023, the government had spent $157 million on AIMS.

"At March 2023, the Ministry and the Authority updated the forecasted costs of the AIMS project to almost $240 million (with no changes to the project's scope), and they have neither amended the agreement further nor established a new AIMS implementation date," the auditor's report said.

The report said the steering committee on the AIMS project found the issues included staff scheduling, payroll time entry and system performance.

The committee told the SHA there would be an update on a new launch date in June 2023.

Clemett said by doing a "lessons learned" report, the SHA could save other government entities money.

"What they've learned should be shared with other government agencies because we really hope this implementation failure doesn't happen again and cost other government agencies and the government as a whole as much as this has."

Failure to launch

AIMS was meant to replace 80 existing systems and improve "data accuracy [and] reliability" while benefiting employees, clients, patients, residents and families, according to a website about the system.

Clemett said AIMS will make her job as the auditor easier once operational, because all information will be easy to access.

When AIMS was taken down on on Nov. 4, 2022, then-health minister Paul Merriman said he was confident it would get working eventually.

"I'm confident that we'll get AIMS working. I just don't have a timeline on that right now because we have to go back and figure out exactly what went wrong," he said at the time.

The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses filed a provincial grievance for the way the system affected members, including errors in scheduling, leave requests and hours worked.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Everett Hindley said he expects AIMS to be ready to re-launch within the next year.

"Based on what happened at this time last year we don't want to rush it. We want to ensure it is done properly," he said.

Hindley said he believes back-end testing on the system is happening now.

"What we have said to them is that when they are confident in the back-end testing, they feel it is in a good place to start the launch, we would be prepared to do that."

Opposition MLA Matt Love said the government has mismanaged the AIMS project.

He said the government promised taxpayers a cost of $86 million, not $240 million.

"Our health system needs that extra $160 million in improving care where people need it, when they need it."