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In today’s message you will read about:

Final Consultation on By-Law Changes

After months of study and consultation with hundreds of members, draft changes to the Doctors Manitoba By-Laws have been reviewed by the Board and are available for final comment from members. 

Last December, final recommendations were shared with members from the Special Committee on Board Modernization. These recommendations have been turned into draft by-law amendments in a final consultation document. The aim of these changes is to modernize our governance and decision-making, ensuring members are at the heart of all we do. 

In the document, you will see a summary of the recommendations, including changes to medical districts and our board structure to better represent our members based on members’ professional and personal attributes. This includes location of practice, practice focus (family medicine/​specialty), gender, and race/​ethnicity. The proposed changes to medical districts would be implemented over time, with the rural changes taking effect in 2024 followed by changes in Winnipeg in 2025. You will see a proposed clear expectation for the Board to consult members regularly and ensure the Board has the right expertise and technical advice when making decisions. The document also presents the draft of the full by-law amendments. 

Sharing a draft of by-law changes is an unusual step. Normally a final version is shared in advance of the Annual General Meeting. However, given the importance of the changes to the very foundation of how Doctors Manitoba is governed, the Board has asked for a draft to be shared with members for one more round of consultations. 

–> Read the final consultation document on modernizing our governance.

We encourage you to contact us with your feedback at general@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca. Members’ views will be considered as the by-law amendments are finalized. Please send us your feedback before March 1, 2023. 

Ultimately, members will have the final say as any changes to our by-laws are subject to a vote. This will occur at our upcoming Annual General Meeting in May. A final version of the by-laws will be circulated before the AGM. 

HOLD THE DATE!

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on the evening of Thursday, May 11. Please hold the date, with more details to follow. We anticipate offering a ​“hybrid” meeting with in-person and virtual attendance options. This is the AGM where by-law changes will be formally considered by members.

Extended Hours Webinar On-Demand

Earlier this week, we held a webinar about the new extended clinic hours premium for primary care, which became available starting February 1, 2023. The webinar is now available for on-demand streaming. 

The new innovative initiative, unique in Canada, offers a 20% premium for primary care visits offered in ​“extended hours” periods, including on weekdays in early mornings and evenings, and on weekends and holidays. The initiative is completely voluntary and flexible, and it is available to family physicians and pediatricians. 

You can see full details:

Feedback about the premium was largely positive. Of the 80 physicians who participated in the webinar, 40% said they would start or expand extended hours in their practice, and another 37% said the new premium would help them maintain their existing extended hours. 

Physicians also offered constructive feedback during the webinar about the rules and premium level, which we will be incorporating into our review of the new premium. The extended hours premium was approved by Manitoba Health as provisional tariffs for 18 months, with a commitment that it will be evaluated. We are already collecting feedback to improve the tariffs, and we welcome your suggestions as you start using the new extended hours tariffs. We are here to answer your questions and offer advice about optimizing your practice for extended hours. Please contact us at practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Resident Week and Resident of the Year

Doctors Manitoba appreciates the contributions that Resident Physicians make to the profession year round! For Resident Appreciation Week we were able to show our appreciation with treats delivered to over 35 residency programs throughout the week. From HSC to Parkland to Thompson we connected with more than 400 residents in Manitoba. We facilitated virtual e‑cards to residents, and offered free notary services at our Bannatyne office. We’re also pleased to announce the three winners of the Resident Appreciation Draw:

  1. Dr. Nicole Cousins
  2. Dr. Jessica Lee Bednarz
  3. Dr. Elizabeth Simonsen

Winners will be contacted by Maclean Boyd to get you your prizes! Thank you again to all the Resident Physicians for your commitment to the medical profession and to the care of Manitobans.

There’s still time to fill out a form on our website to send a deserving resident an ecard!

Announcing our 2023 Resident of the Year

We are taking this opportunity to announce the 2023 Resident of the Year Dr. Alwyn Gomez. ​“Exceptionally driven & talented”, Dr. Gomez’s commitment to his profession and genuine passion for the pursuit of knowledge leaves an undeniable impact on colleagues and patients. Colleague and mentor Dr. Sabine Hombach-Klonisch believes his work and success to date​“positions him ideally to become a future leader in the non-invasive monitoring of cerebrovascular reactivity.”

Stay tuned and mark your calendars! We will announce all of our other award winners later this month and we will celebrate them all at our annual awards gala on May 13, 2023!

CMA President Election Forum This Monday

This Monday, February 13, the CMA is hosting a virtual forum for the four candidates for President-Elect. This year, it’s Manitoba’s turn to elect the next President. The four candidates include Dr. Cory Baillie, Dr. Anthony Battad, Dr. José François, and Dr. Joss Reimer. 

Here are details for the forum:

  • The forum will be held online on Monday, February 13 at 7PM central.
  • Registration is required by 6PM on Feb 13. Click here to register.

Voting for the next CMA President opens on February 22. You must be a CMA member by February 16 to participate. 

We have set up a page with information about how to ensure you are a current CMA member along with information about each candidate. Check it out here.

Federal Health Funding Offer

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister and Premiers finally met in person for a First Ministers Meeting on the future of health care funding.

There were a lot of expectations going into this meeting. Premiers wanted a lot more federal funding to support their health systems, saying the federal contribution to health care has declined from the original 50 – 50 cost sharing arrangement to only 22% today. That would amount to an immediate $28 billion annual increase. They wanted the funding increased to 35% without any new strings attached, pointing out federal funding already comes with clear requirements under The Canada Health Act. 

Several other organizations, including the Canadian Medical Association, saw this as an opportunity to discuss fundamental changes needed to our health care system, pushing for pan-Canadian licensure, scaling up team-based care, improving work environments for health workers, and creating a national health data and human resources strategy.

In the end, the federal government presented a $196 billion ten-year funding plan. While it sounds like a lot, about 75% of this was already planned funding under the existing status-quo Canada Health Transfer, leaving $46 billion in new funding spread over a decade. That new funding includes:

  • $2 billion in immediate funding to boost the Canada Health Transfer to address pressing issues like surgical backlogs and ER wait times.
  • 5% annual funding increases for the first five years and then 3% increases annually for the next five years, with the condition that provinces agree to improve how health information is collected, shared, used and reported to Canadians. 
  • $25 billion over ten years to focus on ​“shared priorities” including family health services, health workers and backlogs, mental health and substance use, and a ​“modernized health system.”

What does this mean for Manitoba? 

This year, Manitoba was set to receive $1.78 billion from the federal government through the Canada Health Transfer. This accounts for about 23% of the projected total expenditures on health in Manitoba (using CIHI forecast). 

The federal proposal would:

  • Add a $72 million injection in health funding this year, or a 4% increase in federal funding. 
  • Add $619 million over five years, or an average of $62 million annually, as a top up to the 5% increase guarantee
  • Add $1.2 billion over ten years to focus on ​“shared priorities.” 

Premier Stefanson, who happens to be Chair of the premier’s Council of the Federation this year, said provinces would be reviewing the funding deal and meeting today to discuss it. While no province is expected to reject more funding for health care, the premiers are expected to press for more as the federal offer is much less than what the premiers had proposed. 

Our analysis suggests that this is nowhere near ​“transformative” levels of funding needed to support fundamental improvements to our health care system. Dr. Candace Bradshaw released the following statement following the meeting earlier this week:

We’re encouraged the Prime Minister finally met with premiers to discuss health care funding, and we see priority areas identified that are important to physicians and patients. While any additional funding for health care is a good start, our initial analysis of the federal offer is that it will only fund a fraction of what’s needed to get Manitobans and Canadians the care they deserve and repair our health care system. We hope to see the dialogue between provinces and the federal government continue, with a focus on addressing the major shortage of physicians and nurses, unreasonably long wait times, and helping the 150,000 Manitobans who don’t have a family doctor.

Physician of the Week

In honour of Resident Appreciation Week our Physician of the week is PGY‑1 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Resident, Dr. Daisy Jihyung Ko. Dr. Ko is passionate about plastics but has interests in surgical education, mentorship in medicine, and queer health advocacy. She finds purpose in participating in and creating community with other people who are traditionally underrepresented in medicine and promoting safer culture for queer learners and staff. Dr. Ko loves working with and learning from medical students and believes that ​“the curiosity and eagerness of learners is critical to team dynamics.” She is very involved with the Doctors Manitoba mentorship program. We don’t suggest you challenge her to a race to complete a sudoku puzzle. Read more about Dr. Ko here.

What is Physician of the Week? 

For 2023, we have established a new way to recognize dedicated and hardworking physicians. The Doctors Manitoba Physician of the Week will exemplify the best of the medical profession, including a commitment to delivering exceptional patient care, to supporting the health and wellness of their colleagues, and/​or to leadership in the medical profession. You can suggest a colleague as Physician of the Week here.

Relief Efforts in Türkiye and Syria

The Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, has called it ​“one of the biggest natural disasters in our times.” More than 20,000 people are confirmed dead after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the northern Syrian border and a large swath of southeastern Türkiye. The numbers continue to climb. Too much time has passed, with freezing temperatures overnight for any hope of finding survivors buried under the debris and rubble. Mass burials have already started as Islamic faith calls for the dead to be buried as quickly as possible. More than 13.5 million people have been affected by the earthquakes and aftershocks. At the epicentre, the city of Kahramanmaras had a population of approximately 500,000 people before the earthquake. 

UN Secretary-General Guterres has appealed to the international community to ​“show the people of Türkiye and Syria the same kind of support and generosity with which they received, protected and assisted millions of refugees and displaced people.”

Doctors Manitoba has made a donation to support medical assistance and humanitarian relief efforts through the Canadian Red Cross. The federal government will match all donations made to the organization from February 6 – 22. We encourage members to make a contribution to help with humanitarian relief efforts. 

Reputable Canadian charities working in the area to provide relief include:

February is Heart Health Month

Let’s beat health inequity together. Heart & Stroke has shared their 2023 spotlight report: System Failure: Healthcare inequities continue to leave women’s heart and brain health behind. This new report outlines the progress that has been made, but just as importantly, it highlights how our system continues to fail women as gaps in awareness, research, diagnosis and care threaten their heart and brain health. We know that women have distinct risk factors for heart disease and stroke and can experience different signs of heart attack from men. Heart & Stroke’s vision is to live in a world where all women receive the care they need when it comes to their heart and brain health. Learn more here.

Respiratory Virus Updates

Surveillance Update

Manitoba Public Health produces a weekly report on respiratory viruses. Below are highlights from this week’s report.

COVID Surveillance

This week’s report covers the week ending February 9 and shows similar activity for COVID compared to recent weeks. Highlights include:

  • There were 11 hospital admissions, up from 6 last week and a continued steady decline over the last five weeks. This week included 3 ICU admissions, up from 2 last week. Weekly hospital admissions last peaked at 264 in the week ending April 16, 2022.
  • There were no COVID deaths recorded over the last week. 
  • There were 65 lab-confirmed cases reported in Manitoba, up slightly from 62 last week.
  • The test positivity rate was 10.7%, up slightly from 10.5% last week.
  • Wastewater surveillance data from January indicated sustained activity of COVID-19 in Winnipeg and Brandon at lower levels. 

Influenza & RSV

This week’s report shots similar influenza activity. Highlights include:

  • Test positivity for influenza A was 0.8% this week, up slightly from 0.5% last week. The predominant strain circulating right now is still Influenza A (H3N2), with 3 lab confirmed cases (down from 9 last week) and there were no cases of Influenza B reported.
  • There were no hospital admissions as a result of flu/​RSV (the same as last week).
  • There were 1,251 respiratory related visits to EDs in the province this week, down from 1,300 last week.
  • RSV is also circulating with a 6.2% test positivity rate, up from 5.7% last week.

Health in the News

Another busy week of health news. We’ve curated the top stories with exclusive access to subscription-only content. 

DRMB in the News

Other Health Stories in the News

ICYMI

Here are some of our top recent posts, in case you missed them. 

Events

Upcoming events are always listed on our events calendar.

Featured Events

Meet the Candidates — CMA President-Elect Election — February 13, 2023 from 7 – 8:30pm
All members are invited to attend this virtual event but you must be a CMA member to vote in the election, which runs from February 22-March 8. Doctors Manitoba members are not automatically CMA members, so it is important to check your membership status. Don’t make an assumption.

Dissecting the Culture of Medicine: Addressing Systemic Inequities from Patient to Provider — February 11, 2023 — 9am-4pm
Learn from various provider and patient perspectives on how to foster anti-discrimination in practice.

Other Events

Improve your Financial Health (Sponsored content from MD Financial)

There’s nothing like the start of a new year for a money reset. Here are a few tips to help you improve your financial health in 2023. Learn more…

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