Consulting

Courtyard Group absorbed by Telus Health Solutions

TORONTO – Telus has acquired the Courtyard Group, a management consulting firm involved in many of Canada’s top healthcare IT projects over the past few years, including some controversial work with eHealth Ontario.

In 2009, it was disclosed that Courtyard Group, along with other consulting agencies, were the recipients of untendered, multi-million-dollar contracts from eHealth Ontario. The news led to a shake-up at eHealth Ontario and the Ministry of Health. The government of Ontario subsequently announced new regulations requiring all government-related contracts worth over $100,000 to be put out for competitive tendering.

A spokesperson at Telus confirmed that about 30 people from Courtyard Group have made the transition over to Telus, including former principals Dave Wattling (pictured, left) and Dr. Michael Guerriere (pictured, right). Both are now listed on the Telus Health Solutions web site as Vice Presidents of Transformation Services with the large company.

The spokesperson at Telus was unable to provide further details about the strategic plan for the acquisition, saying only that announcements will be forthcoming in the spring.

Before joining Telus, Wattling was Managing Partner and co-founder of Courtyard Group, a healthcare management consultancy of some 200 professionals operating across Canada and in the US and UK. In this role he was responsible for corporate management, business development and oversight of the US, UK and Western Canadian operations.

Dr. Guerriere holds a degree in medicine and specialty training in internal medicine. He received an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago. Prior to joining TELUS, he served ten years as an executive in academic hospitals and eleven years as an international healthcare consultant.


Posted February 24, 2011