Striving Forward
It was late 2019 when the Doctors Manitoba board developed a strategic plan to carry the organization through 2020 – 24.
In those early planning stages, no one could have predicted what would come in the wake of a global pandemic, but the plan stood up to the test with its focus on strengthening and supporting the whole physician. The four-year plan carried our organization through COVID, an expansion of physician health supports and services, a landmark Physician Services Agreement and beyond.
Earlier this year, we introduced the 2024 – 2028 plan and we’d like to tell you a little more about it. It is based on what we heard from you, developed with feedback from physicians, resident physicians and medical students, and is focused on services and advocacy for our members.
You’ll see we have maintained our vision and mission for Doctors Manitoba, to strengthen and support the whole physician by striving to ensure every doctor has the support they need to deliver exceptional care to Manitobans. This means a continued focus on not only your economic needs, but also your professional, physical, and mental well-being.
Helping Physicians Be Physicians
What’s new in this plan is a strategic focus on helping physicians be physicians.
“We’ve heard your frustration about how too many obstacles get in the way of doing what you trained to do and doing what you love,” said President Dr. Randy Guzman. You’ll see us pushing for less paperwork and advocating for more physician-led team-based care.”
Doctors Manitoba is developing new resources to support your professional and business obligations, while fighting for a more stable and easier-to-navigate health care system for you and your patients. We continue our push to reduce the unnecessary or inefficient administrative tasks that come across your desk – or screen – every day. Our goal is to give you your time back.
Physician Health and Wellness and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization
We’ve also introduced two foundational elements that are integrated into everything we do: supporting physician and medical learner health and wellness, and pursuing equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization within Doctors Manitoba, the profession and health system. Our Doc360 physician health and wellness supports continue to expand, and we continue to work to improve the environments in which you practice. We must also play a bigger role than ever in ensuring our profession is more inclusive and equitable, while we also push to disrupt racism and discrimination.
The four-year plan continues our focus on other strategic priorities, such as our bedrock mandate to ensure the economic well-being of all physicians. While our current physician services agreement came with a record level of new funding, we know some groups still need innovative change and modernization to ensure remuneration models match today’s medical practice while keeping you competitive with other jurisdictions. We will be driving this work in tandem with our other existing priorities including delivering exceptional service to members, fostering member unity, and being the influential voice for the profession in Manitoba.
“Like everything we do in medicine, our plan is continuously evolving,” said Dr. Guzman. “As the health system changes, as we hear from members, we will review and adapt our plans accordingly. This is why it’s so essential for you to reach out and connect with our team at Doctors Manitoba when things work well, and when you need our help for things to work better.”