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In today’s message you will find:

Last Call for Input on Important Issues

We have two important consultations underway right now, and the opportunity for you to comment is closing soon. Please consider taking the time to add your advice to strengthen our advocacy on the physician shortage and to help improve how Doctors Manitoba represents you. 

Physician Shortage

We are working to finalize recommendations for the province to help recruit and retain more physicians. While the recommendations are aimed at rural and Northern communities, most of them can and should apply to Winnipeg as well. Therefore, we invite all physicians, residents and medical students to offer their advice.

→ See the recommendations here and share your feedback

The draft recommendations come from a Summit we held recently in partnership with the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, with over 100 participants. By partnering, we have been able to draw in community, Indigenous and business leaders into the conversation, in addition to health system leaders, physicians and medical learners

Improving How We Represent You

We need your feedback on some preliminary recommendations to modernize Doctors Manitoba governance. The goal is to ensure our Board is representative of the membership and makes the best possible decisions on behalf of the medical community. This affects how we set priorities, what we advocate for, our approach to negotiating new contracts and agreements, and more.

The preliminary recommendations were drafted by a special committee, based on earlier feedback from members and researching how other medical associations and member organizations govern themselves. You now have the opportunity to have your say about whether these draft recommendations are on the right track. Your feedback will be used to finalize recommendations. Ultimately, any changes will require membership approval at an Annual General Meeting.

→ Share your views anonymously using this survey. If you compete the survey before October 10, you can enter to win a $500 gift card.

Public Health Updates

COVID Surveillance Update

Public Health posts weekly COVID-19 Surveillance Reports on Thursdays. This week’s report covers the week ending October 1 and shows​similar activity to last week. Highlights include:

  • Severe outcomes from COVID-19 increased slightly compared to the previous week. There were 77 hospital admissions, up from 73 last week. This includes 13 ICU admissions, an increase from 11 last week. Weekly hospital admissions last peaked at 264 in the week ending April 16.
  • There were 3 deaths recorded, the same number as last week. There have now been 2,177 deaths related to COVID-19.
  • There were 305 lab-confirmed cases reported in Manitoba over the last week, up from 283 last week.
  • The test positivity rate was 23.4%, up from 22.2% last week.

The updated wastewater surveillance dashboard for Winnipeg show lower levels. Brandon’s wastewater monitoring shows another increase after a sharp drop last week.

On Demand Webinar

On Tuesday we hosted an exclusive webinar with Dr. Brent Roussin to discuss the potential for a​‘twindemic’ with COVID and flu, as well as other public health priorities. Find out the current status in Manitoba, what might be coming this fall, and what keeps Dr. Roussin up at night these days. You can watch the session on demand here.

Monkeypox Update #5

Cases of monkeypox continue to spread across many countries that do not normally report monkeypox, including Canada. As of October 3, provinces and territories in Canada have publicly reported 1,400 cases, with only one confirmed case in Manitoba. Anyone can become infected with monkeypox. However, in Canada and around the world, infections have been primarily reported among people who self-identify as belonging to the gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) community. As of October 6, 2022, Manitoba Health will be expanding eligibility to include pre-exposure prophylaxis for Manitobans who meet specific eligibility criteria. These individuals will also be eligible for a 2nd dose of vaccine, given at least 28 days after the 1st dose, to complete their vaccine series. You can review Manitoba Health’s full update, the eligibility criteria for the pre-exposure prophylaxis vaccine, and information on booking appointments here.

Nominations Open for CMA Awards

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has opened nominations for its annual awards. The CMA Awards celebrate significant contributions to health, health care and the medical profession. Nominations should reflect the diversity of the profession and the communities physicians serve. Please note that, with the exception of two awards – the Owen Adams Award of Honour and the John McCrae Memorial Medal, which are open to non-CMA members – nominations can only be submitted by and for CMA members in good standing. Spanning 10 categories, recipients include changemakers from different career stages, backgrounds and geographic regions. One non-physician is also recognized every year. The deadline for nominations is Nov. 30, 2022. All nominations must be submitted electronically using the online nomination form and include a nomination letter, two letters of support and the nominee’s biography or CV. The CMA Awards Committee will review all submissions in Feb. 2023. 

Information on preparing nominations, including online forms, a simplified checklist and terms of reference for each award, is available at cma​.ca/​a​wards. If you would like to nominate a colleague and would like assistance preparing your nomination, please contact our Communications Coordinator Jody Sie at jsie@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Fantastic Physicians

Congratulations to Dr. Eric Sigurdson who was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal last week. The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Manitoba) celebrates the 70th anniversary year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne, which began on February 6, 2022. 

We love hearing about all the well-deserved awards and accolades our members receive so we can share the news with our members. In fact, word-of-mouth is how we find out about most of the fantastic physicians we feature in this section. If you know about a physician who has been recognized for their accomplishments, we want to hear about them. To share the news with us please contact our Communications Coordinator Jody Sie at jsie@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Health System Updates

60/40 Project to Prioritize LTC Access from Community

A WRHA project is underway to prioritize panelling clients for long term care directly from the community, rather than hospital. The goal is to achieve 60% of PCH placements coming from the community, rather than the current state which sees the vast majority being placed from hospital. Recently, these patients have been waiting in hospital beds or on ER stretchers for days waiting for a PCH bed. 

For the project to work, Home Care will need to be available to support clients at home until PCH placement is both needed and available. 

Physicians are being asked by the WRHA to reinforce this process, as appropriate, with your patients. The memo from Dr. Shawn Thomas, the WRHA’s Specialty Lead for Primary Health Care, offers further details and invites feedback and advice as the initiative is implemented.

New Surgical Wait List System 

Earlier this week, Shared Health announced it is moving forward with a centralized wait list tool for surgery and endoscopy. Called SWIM, for Surgical Wait list Information Management, the initiative will roll out a new tool called Novari Access to Care in an effort to improve accessibility and efficiency of surgical services across Manitoba. You can read further details in this memo from Provincial Specialty Lead Dr. Ed Buchel.

At this point, we are seeking further information about how this will impact physicians, both on the referring side and on the consulting/​procedure side of medicine. We are sensitive to any added administrative burden for physicians, especially when we know this is a key driver for physician burnout, which is at an all-time high.

If you have concerns as SWIM is being implemented in your area, please contact us at practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

CPSM Annual Report

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba has released their annual report.

The report offers updated data on physician resources in Manitoba. There was a net gain of 74 physicians in Manitoba last year, the largest since 2019. Manitoba now has 3,157 physicians with a certificate to practice, an all-time high.

While this is certainly encouraging news, we know the number of physicians alone does not reveal the full story. What we hear anecdotally from a number of sources is that more and more physicians are opting to reduce their clinical hours, either to prepare for retirement or to more effectively manage their professional and personal commitments. In fact, our member survey from earlier this year found that 21% of physicians are planning on reducing their clinical hours over the next three years, with another 11% planning to retire and a further 11% looking to leave Manitoba and practice elsewhere. 

The annual report also looks at complaints. There were 360 complaints received last year. This appears to be a significant increase, likely because of the addition of an online complaints form on CPSM’s website.

Of these, 159 were referred to the CPSM Complaints Committee, which is a 28% increase over last year. Most of these cases are reviewed and the Committee deems that no further action is required (52%) or advice/​criticism is offered (27%).

The CPSM Investigations Committee received 134 of the complaints last year, an increase of 70%. Some of these were referred by the Registrar or Complaints Committee, but most were sent there because of the complainant’s request. When reviewing the completed cases, however, it appears the number of complaints that led to an undertaking, censure, or referral to an inquiry were down slightly, with 20 in these categories this year, a decrease from 27 last year. 

The report also offers updates on other functions at CPSM, such as quality and physician health. 

Obesity Canada CME opportunity

Obesity Canada recently launched Calibre, a hybrid 5‑module CME that combines learn-as-you-go content with live workshops. It was developed through a partnership among Obesity Canada, the European Association for the Study of Obesity and the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism. Course content was put together by a scientific planning committee of Canadian and global clinicians and researchers, many of them authors of the Canadian Adult Obesity CPGs and all content is based off of these scientific, evidence based guidelines, published in CMAJ. Get all the details here.

Health in the News

Check out a variety of news we have curated from the past week that may be of interest to physicians:

We have also earmarked these stories from other provinces:

ICYMI

Here are some important and popular recent updates, in case you missed them:

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events are always listed on our events calendar.

Featured Events

Building the Foundations of Anti-Oppressive Healthcare — October 27 and November 22 from 8:00am to 12:00pm CST

Learn the language and frameworks of anti-oppression and social justice. Explore how the Canadian healthcare system continues to participate in discrimination and oppression, and how health care professionals can engage in praxis – theory-informed action in the pursuit of social justice. Participants will be asked to critically reflect on their own assumptions and behaviours; to interrogate organizational practices and policies; and to identify ways to use their social power to disrupt, reshape, and reimagine our workplaces and institutions. Jointly offered by CFD and Office of Inclusion and Diversity.

26th Annual Bug Day — October 18 — 7:30am-4pm

If you are interested in the prevention and control of communicable diseases, as well as health issues in the community or healthcare setting, then Bug Day is for you! Nationally and internationally recognized experts will present timely, significant topics in infectious diseases and public health. Bug Day is Manitoba’s largest healthcare education event. It’s FREE and accredited, and is hosted by HSC Winnipeg in collaboration with the University of Manitoba’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Medicine Program, and held every year during National Infection Prevention & Control Week.

Bug Day will be streamed online through YouTube. There is no charge, but you must be registered to attend on October 18. Register here!

2022 Bug Day Schedule (PDF)

2022 Bug Day Abstracts

Other Events

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