Chair's Report - Fall 2023

After two years of progress, I’m wrapping up my term as Chair feeling incredibly proud of the foundation Ontario’s Anesthesiologists has built and the advances we have achieved together. 

The OA Executive and I have worked hard to advocate on your behalf, represent your best interests, and empower you as leaders within Ontario’s health-care systems.

We are closer than we ever were to fulfilling our mission to strengthen our role as leading partners, which is important because the challenges today for anesthesiologists and our patients are significant. 

Wait times for surgeries remain long, yet we’re in the middle of a nationwide shortage of anesthesiologists. There is a marked strain on our human resources, with Canada clocking just 11 anesthesiologists per 100,000 people, compared to 23 in Australia, and 21 in the U.S. Three in four anesthesia chiefs across Ontario told us they had staffing challenges this year they couldn’t cover, putting pressure on the anesthesiologists we do have.

That’s why our patients need us to be there for them at Queen’s Park as well as the province’s operating rooms. 

Governance – Anesthesiologists are leading partners

By strengthening our presence within the health system we are establishing anesthesiologists as leading partners.

A key part of that is building a strong voice for our specialty at the OMA, where major strategies and policies for the profession are determined, including future negotiated agreements. 

Earlier this year, I met with OMA President Dr. Andrew Park to discuss ways the OMA and OA can support one another. There are opportunities for you to ensure our voices are heard and drive our most important issues forward as well. We have continued to form deeper relationships with government in order to ensure that your work is understood and valued appropriately. 

OMA elections will be held in the coming months and, under our membership organization’s new governance structure, all Executive positions are up for election. Nominations are now open and voting will take place early in the new year. 

Your voice can make all the difference. If you are passionate about the direction of Ontario’s Anesthesiologists and want to help advance our interests, I strongly encourage you to put your name forward. The supports you need are in place to help you. Reach out if you want to discuss the role you can play in advocating for anesthesiologists and our patients within the OMA and beyond.

Member Services – Strengthening our brand and our growing our team 

We continue to have significant support from our membership, growing in strength to more than 800 paid members. Section fees matter because they provide the financial support required to help us speak up within our authority as one of the largest medical specialities in the province. Help strengthen our collective voice by becoming a paid Section member.

Our Leadership Development Working Group is empowering each one of us as leaders inside and outside the health-care system. Our Leadership Development Grant program continues to offer financial support to those who want to pursue formal leadership training.

Members benefited from virtual leadership coaching sessions and our 2023 OAM Leadership Development Day provided us with training on advocacy, social media, and government relations.

The Anesthesia Chiefs Resource Hub has been updated, providing even better practical support and materials online to new Anesthesia Chiefs. 

We are telling our story and engaging in public and government dialogue in a more strategic way, raising our profile in the news and on social media.

Our ideas to address the shortage in our profession have earned national media coverage. This summer, we had a conversation with patients and government through several print, radio and TV interviews focused on the shortage of anesthesiologists, the impact on patients, and potential solutions.  

Also part of our 2023 Strategic Communications Plan, we are communicating the value and thought leadership anesthesiologists bring to the health-care system through a series of blog posts on issues of significance. Our social media presence continues to grow. We are connecting to audiences through profiles of members who are making a difference across our social media channels. 

Patient Care — Anesthesiologists providing expert advice 

We are meeting our objective to become more engaged with stakeholders by leveraging our expertise to provide advice on patient care.

Our Anesthesia Health Human Resources Group, led by Dr. Monica Olsen, has been weighing in on the anesthesiologist shortage. They’ve advocated for the Anesthesia Care Team, or ACT, model of care to boost our short-term capacity to care for patients by using more physician-supervised anesthesia assistants. In the longer term, they’re advocating for more anesthesia residency positions to increase the supply of anesthesiologists and regional or provincial licensure so anesthesiologists can go quickly to where care is needed most.

Our Environmental Sustainability Working Group, led by Dr. Anita Rao, is positioning us as leaders in the fight against climate change by making anesthesia more sustainable. Through their leadership, we’ve advocated to reduce and eliminate the use of desflurane, started to promote circular economy principles to guide how hospitals buy supplies, and developed environmental guidelines for anesthesia. We’ve collaborated with CASCADES Canada and the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care to reduce our greenhouse gasses and environmental impact.

Advocacy and Stakeholder Relations — Influencing decisions 

We’re taking our seat at the table and increasing our influence through advocacy and stakeholder relations.

This meant we were front and centre again this year at the OMA’s Queen’s Park Day. 

We’re raising our profile with the OMA and our peer specialities within it. Our advance work meant we had built the relationships we needed to welcome Members of Provincial Parliament following our Leadership Development Day. We are meeting politicians at the Ontario legislature, and in our own communities. We are making connections at the Ministry of Health and strengthening our ties with stakeholders like the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society.

And we are using that influence to advocate for our most important stakeholder — our patients. The next round of fee negotiations between the OMA and the provincial government has begun. We must have the personnel and supplies we need to serve our patients and we need to ensure anesthesiologists are compensated fairly and at a competitive rate so we can keep them here in Ontario.

We’re making that case on your behalf.

As your Chair, it has been my privilege to advocate for you and the work we do and to set us up for success.

We have the foundation and tools we need to strengthen our position as leaders.

Now it’s your turn. Take what we’ve done and build on it. Run for a position on the Executive. Join a working group. Be empowered to make a difference.

Because if I’ve learned anything over the last two years, it’s that we can accomplish so much more if we work together. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Rohit Kumar

Chair, Ontario’s Anesthesiologists

A Section of the Ontario Medical Association