A Thunder Bay hospital’s temporary hiring of Chris Mazza, the doctor at the centre of the ORNGE air ambulance fiasco, has sparked a political firestorm at Queen’s Park.

Mazza’s new “short-term locum” at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre has refocused attention on a scandal that has plagued the Liberal government since a 2011 Star investigation revealed problems at ORNGE.

“Apart from the obvious irreparable damage that was done to our emergency ambulance service and the harm that was done to the men and women who were forced to work under this man’s tyranny, he travelled the world in the lap of luxury at taxpayers’ expense,” Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees said Tuesday.

“He saddled taxpayers with multimillions of dollars of debt thanks to his mismanagement. He should not be in an emergency ward. He should be in a jail,” Klees told the legislature.

Mazza — under investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police over the unusual financial wheeling and dealing at ORNGE — first worked at the hospital last weekend.

Dr. Gordon Porter, Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre chief of staff, said “his services are welcome and appreciated here.”

“Dr. Mazza visited our (emergency department) under a mentor this past weekend and the feedback I had from our ED staff afterwards about him was very positive,” Porter said in a statement.

“I have no concerns about Dr. Mazza providing patient care and he is welcome to come back as a locum. Ultimately, that decision will be up to Dr. Mazza,” he said.

Despite that ringing endorsement, Klees questioned the doctor’s fitness to be working in emergency room.

“He pleaded mental incapacity when called to testify at the public accounts committee and had to be brought here under a special speaker’s warrant,” he said, referring to Mazza’s testimony before the panel looking into ORNGE.

“Front-line staff and patients were put at risk as a direct result of his gross mismanagement and fraudulent schemes and self-aggrandizement,” Klees said in the legislature.

Health Minister Deb Matthews shot back: “To suggest that I run the human resources departments in hospitals across this province is kind of ridiculous.”

Matthews also took umbrage at Klees’ line of questioning.

“I do find it strange that the member opposite is suggesting that we investigate, convict and jail someone. That’s not how we do business on this side of the house.”

Still, the minister, who called police to probe ORNGE in February 2012, told journalists later she was “surprised” to learn of Mazza’s new post.

“Dr. Mazza and I have a history, I think you could say,” said Matthews, referring to her unhappiness with his handling of ORNGE.

“This is a decision of the hospital. They will make their own staffing decisions. He is accredited under the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. That is a decision of the College.”

Mazza, a one-time emergency room wunderkind, parlayed his expertise into founding ORNGE and eventually became Ontario’s highest paid public official in 2011.

As president and CEO, he made $4.6 million during his last two years at the public agency.

But after the Star investigation, Mazza went on medical leave in late 2011 and weeks later lost his job.

Police are examining some questionable financial dealings at ORNGE under his watch, including the $1.2 million in loans and a cash advance he received and a mysterious $6.7 million payout from an Italian helicopter manufacturer.

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Mazza concealed his salary from the “sunshine list” of high rollers on the public payroll before parting ways with ORNGE.

He insisted Matthews and the Liberals knew all along what he was doing at ORNGE.

“I always acted with the best interests of the public of Ontario,” Mazza said last year when he described his 2005 founding of ORNGE, which updated what he maintained was Ontario’s “antiquated” air ambulance service.