Chris Mazza, the controversial doctor under investigation by Ontario Provincial Police over the ORNGE air-ambulance scandal, has a temporary new job at a Thunder Bay hospital.

According to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre’s website, Mazza is one of 16 “new short-term locums” at the hospital.

Dr. Gordon Porter, chief of staff at health science centre, told CBC Thunder Bay the hospital was in dire need of help in its emergency department due to the departure of six full-time physicians.

“We have recognized, for years, that we are locum-dependent in many areas,” he said, referring to the hiring of temporary doctors to fill specific needs.

Porter, who was not immediately available to comment to the Star, told tbnewswatch.com Monday that Mazza “expressed interest through professional colleagues and recognizing there was a need and opportunity.”

“He quite frankly told me he was coming to see what the opportunity and possibility may be. I’d certainly like to see him come back and fill a short-term need, and I think based on the feedback on what I’ve heard from this weekend we can see him filling a larger role,” the chief of staff told the Thunder Bay news website.

Mazza, an ER specialist, founded ORNGE in 2005 as a new way of delivering air ambulance services, but an ongoing Star investigation that began in 2011 exposed a litany of problems at the agency.

As president and CEO, he earned $4.6 million in taxpayers’ dollars during his last two years at the agency, which made him Ontario’s highest paid public official in 2011.

In the wake of the Star probe, Mazza went on medical leave in late 2011 and weeks later lost his job.

The OPP has long been investigating some questionable financial dealings at ORNGE under the founder’s watch, including a $6.7 million payment from an Italian helicopter manufacturer and $1.2 million in loans and a cash advance to Mazza.

Health Minister Deb Matthews, who called police to probe ORNGE in February 2012 and has had to deal with the political fallout on the Liberal government from the fiasco, said she had nothing to do with his new post.

“Hiring decisions are made independently by our hospitals, and physician accreditation is the independent responsibility of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario,” Matthews said in a statement.

“It’s important to recognize that our government has made important changes at ORNGE. There is a new leadership team in place with a new performance agreement, with a culture focused on patient care and safety, as well as accountability for taxpayer dollars,” she said.