Doug Currie says Paladin didn't try to renegotiate hospital security contract

The company awarded the contract to provide security at P.E.I.'s two largest hospitals did not try to renegotiate a higher price after the contract was signed, says Health Minister Doug Currie.

"Absolutely not," he said in response to a question by Opposition Leader Jamie Fox in the Legislature on Thursday.

"We take security very seriously in our health-care system here in the province of Prince Edward Island."

The province awarded the contract to Paladin Security, a Vancouver-based company, instead of renewing a contract with commissionaires.

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Forty commissionaires working at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Prince County Hospital were laid off last month, but most were offered jobs with Paladin.

Currie told the House yesterday the new contract saved the province $80,000 a year.