Former CEO of IWK Health Centre released on bail pending appeal of fraud conviction

HALIFAX -

The former CEO of the IWK Health Centre has been released on bail -- just one day after she was sentenced to five months in jail for using public money to pay for more than $45,000 worth of personal expenses.

Tracy Kitch appeared in Halifax Supreme Court for a bail hearing Thursday morning as she seeks to appeal her fraud conviction.

Kitch was released on a $20,000 surety and has been ordered to abide by several conditions until her appeal, which has been set for March 7, 2023.

“The court was satisfied that the test for bail pending appeal had been met,” explained Crown attorney Erica Koresawa outside the courtroom.

“There are a number of conditions that will restrict her contact with certain individuals and the type of work employment or gainful employment that she will be able to engage in while she’s on bail pending appeal.”

Kitch’s bail conditions require her to live at her Ontario address. They also prohibit her from seeking or gaining employment or a volunteer position where she would have authority over money.

Although Nova Scotia Court of Appeal Justice Anne Derrick says she doesn't believe Kitch is a flight risk, the judge is requiring her to report to Halifax Regional Police by phone on a weekly basis.

Kitch’s lawyer, Brian Greenspan, had argued for a conditional sentence of house arrest, noting that the public would be paying for Kitch’s incarceration, and suggesting that house arrest can be a harsher sentence than jail time.

“One takes for instance, the five-month incarceral sentence that was imposed here, if it would be served in the community, you'd increase it. The five months might become 10 months,” said Greenspan after his client’s sentencing on Wednesday.

"She has this fall from grace. That fall from grace can be dealt with in an effective way by an increased period of house arrest, as opposed to sending someone in her situation to jail."

The Crown did not oppose Kitch’s release from jail pending her appeal.

Kitch’s defence filed a notice to appeal her fraud conviction on July 19, on the grounds that the judge “failed to explain how the use of a corporate credit card for personal expenses … was conduct which reasonable people would consider to be dishonest.”

‘PERSONAL PIGGY BANK’

Kitch was found guilty of fraud over $5,000 on Feb. 28 and sentenced Wednesday in Halifax provincial court.

In addition to five months in jail, Kitch was sentenced to 12 months of probation.

"Ms. Kitch was no ordinary public employee: she received a salary that started at $280,000,” noted Judge Paul Scovil in his sentencing decision Wednesday.

“While the evidence showed Ms. Kitch to have exercised her management skills to a high degree in the running of the children's hospital, she utterly failed to follow through with the same care regarding her expense accounts."

It was revealed that Kitch used a corporate credit card and flight passes to cover numerous flights from Toronto to Halifax for personal travel to her home.

"It is also (an) aggravating (factor) that this offender took advantage of her position to effectively use her expense account as her own personal piggy bank,” said Scovil.

Kitch used corporate funds to pay for taxis, hotel stays for relatives, iTunes, Netflix and data charges. Kitch also used a rental car for personal use and didn’t pay parking tickets.

"The victim was a children's hospital,” said Scovil. “Hospitals are publicly funded, and also obtain significant funding through fundraising activities, obtaining additional monies from private sources. And there was a significant impact on the victim. The victim was the IWK itself and the public.”

While Kitch’s actions had a financial impact on the hospital and its donors, Scovil noted they also tarnished the reputation of the IWK.

Kitch stepped down from her position at the IWK Health Centre in August 2017 after an independent audit found she had used her corporate credit card to bill the hospital about $47,000 in personal expenses.

Kitch paid the hospital back over $45,000 within months of her resignation.

Kitch was first charged in October 2018 and went to trial in November 2021.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Bruce Frisko and The Canadian Press