Bail granted for former IWK hospital executive convicted of fraud

Tracy Kitch is free on bail pending the outcome of an appeal hearing next year of her conviction and sentence for fraud over $5,000.

Kitch appeared at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on Thursday where Justice Anne Derrick approved her release with conditions. The Crown did not oppose the application.

The former CEO of the IWK Health Centre must reside in Ontario with her husband who, acting as surety, pledged $20,000 with no cash deposit as part of the release conditions.

Kitch must seek permission before moving elsewhere in Canada or travelling to the U.S., although she is free to travel without permission to a property she owns in New Brunswick.

While released, Kitch is barred from communicating with any of the witnesses from her previous trial and former IWK chief financial officer Stephen D'Arcy, unless it's through a lawyer.

Kitch must check in weekly with Halifax Regional Police and she is prohibited from working or volunteering in any position that involves having authority over the real property, money or valuable security of another person.

On Wednesday, Kitch was sentenced to five months in jail, followed by 12 months on probation after a trial and conviction related to her expenses when she led the Halifax-based children's hospital.

A hospital-ordered report in 2017 found Kitch expensed $47,000 to a corporate credit card and many of those charges were deemed personal. Much of the spending was related to travel between Halifax and Ontario, where Kitch's family resided. Kitch repaid the money and stepped down before eventually being charged.

Earlier this year, charges against D'Arcy were dismissed after the Crown announced it would call no evidence in the matter.

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