Chair's Report - Fall 2021

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great privilege that I take over as Chair of Ontario’s Anesthesiologists and hope to continue after the upcoming OMA Elections for a complete term. I am passionate about the work we do as Anesthesiologists and look forward to representing all of you.

I will begin by thanking Dr. Monica Olsen for her steady leadership as Chair over the last two and a half years. She quickly pivoted on issues relating to COVID and kept Section work moving forward in a challenging time. Throughout the pandemic, she continued to advocate on our behalf, established valuable relationships with important stakeholders, and advanced our reach.

These past couple of years have been particularly demanding on Anesthesiologists. I would like to acknowledge the dedication you have all shown heading into what was really a scary unknown. You did not back away despite uncertainty and PPE shortages. You led code blue and airway teams, performing the highest risk procedures. You have been redeployed to ICUs and Emergency departments and contributed to decision making in leadership roles. You have worked longer hours and weekends in the face of surgical backlogs. The professionalism that anesthesiologists have shown and continue to show is something that you should all be proud of.

As a result of the pandemic, appreciation for the work anesthesiologists do may be at an all-time high, but in many ways, especially with stakeholders outside the hospital, we remain invisible and in the background. This lack of visibility makes it difficult for stakeholders to appreciate our knowledge and skills, and the value we offer to the peri-operative and wider health system. You all do highly complex, acute work in a complicated environment often where seconds count. No other physician can do the specialized work we do, yet we can be redeployed to help almost any other specialty.

We can no longer afford to be overlooked or be an afterthought when peri-operative and critical care policy decisions are made. We need to be a part of those conversations. You deserve to be recognized, valued, and respected for your commitment and contributions to patient care.

In the coming years, there are 4 broad areas that I believe the Section needs to focus on: Governance, Tariff and Compensation, Advocacy and Stakeholder Relations and Member Services. Under each of these heading we will focus on specific initiatives.

Governance
Our Section Executive will undergo a significant turnover this upcoming year. There are a number of positions up for election, including the Vice-Chair position which is currently vacant, as will be the position of Treasurer. Our Members at Large have also completed a two-year term with the Executive. It will be a priority to recruit new Executive members who can contribute to the areas of focus listed above, to set our Section up for long term success. As the OMA defines further governance changes, we will work to establish an effective model for our section under this umbrella.

Tariff/Compensation
It will be an asset for new Executive members to have an interest and understanding in matters related to tariff and compensation, as we are keenly aware that this is an area our members expect the section to perform on. We are incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Goldszmidt as our long-standing Tariff Chair. His knowledge and wisdom continue to serve us well. Ensuring diversity of thought and discussion by members who can fairly represent the diversity of our specialty will strengthen our bench. It will also help ensure we are providing the best input and feedback to the negotiating team to advocate for a most favorable outcome.

Advocacy/Stakeholder Relations
To have a voice we need to be seen, heard, and understood. We will continue to engage the OMA, government, and other key stakeholders to ensure our unique interests are represented. We need to be influential at local hospital, regional and provincial levels; always ready to provide perspective on issues and policies that impact the care we provide. We will do our best to increase our visibility and establish anesthesiologists as the go to trusted source for peri-operative issues and as leaders and drivers of the peri-operative system. Some specific areas on the horizon include:

- Anesthesia staffing shortages and the threat of alternate providers.
- The balance of dealing with the surgical backlog and burnout.
- Doing our part in addressing the opioid crisis.

Member Services/Annual Ontario Anesthesia Meeting
We will aim to continue to set up our specialty for success. Over this year, we will curate a set of courses specifically for anesthesiologists to help develop future anesthesia leaders. We will update and incorporate our existing leadership grant program to help support those interested. We plan to ensure that we are communicating with and engaging our members, especially our new graduating residents. Lastly, we look forward to the return of an in-person conference in the fall of 2022 (September 16 to 18, 2022) where we will work to deliver a diverse and attractive line up of topics. For the fall 2022 Ontario Anesthesia Meeting, we are recruiting for a new Academic Chair. If you are interested in expanding your network and making a contribution, this is an excellent opportunity. We thank Dr. Ashraf Fayad, the outgoing Academic Chair, for his commitment for to the meeting over the least three years and offering to support the incoming Academic Chair in transition.

It is my commitment to you that I will do my very best to help elevate our voice and promote our interests and our brand. Our goals can only be accomplished by collective effort, so if it falls in your area of interest or expertise, we ask that you support the Section by stepping forward and contributing to upcoming opportunities. The more resources we have, especially volunteers and ideas, the better we can represent you and the more we can accomplish. We rely on your continued financial support through maintaining your membership.

A very sincere thank you again, for the dedicated clinical work that you do each day caring for patients, educating new learners, conducting valuable research and leading in your roles.

Continue to stay safe and I look forward to our conversations and our future. Please reach out any time with your thoughts. We value your feedback and suggestions.

Respectfully,

Dr. Rohit Kumar
Chair, Ontario's Anesthesiologists
A Section of the Ontario Medical Association