Chair's Report - Spring 2023

Taking our seat at the table 

One of the hardest things for any advocacy organization to do is stand out from the noise of the crowd. There are so many organizations — good organizations with good causes — vying for a seat at the table.

Ontario’s Anesthesiologists is breaking through the clutter. 

In the fall, we were at Queen’s Park when doctors met more than three dozen cabinet ministers and MPPs during a day organized by the Ontario Medical Association. We participated in pre-budget consultations led by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy. We shared our solutions for the surgical backlog and the health human resources shortage. We talked about the opioid crisis and environmental sustainability. We advocated for increased anesthesia assistant training and reducing the administrative burden for doctors.

We earned our audience with decision-makers by working together to raise our profile — at the OMA, in political circles, and in the public domain. 

We are increasing our visibility by telling our story, through public education, on digital platforms and government relations. These important activities exemplify the important role we play in perioperative care and the value we provide.

Together, we are achieving our mission to represent the best interests of Ontario's anesthesiologists and strengthen our leadership role within the health system.

I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, and of the contributions of our executive, working group volunteers and members. 

I know there is much more to do and I am confident that we have built momentum that will continue to get us closer to our goals.

Governance – Building a foundation for success

We’re putting in place a strong governance structure and building an environment of trust to ensure the interests of all of our members are protected. Supported by this foundation, we can deliver on our strategy to serve the political and economic interests of our members. We can strengthen our reputation as leaders in the future of health care. We can make a positive long-term impact by influencing policy and advocating for our patients.

This year, we have solidified oversight of policies and processes and embedded our Executive leads into our operations. A member of our Executive now leads each working group. Our Treasurer oversees the Resident Subcommittee. Minutes from all working group and committee meetings are shared to ensure our Executive is well informed about section activities.

Our first Leadership Group Coaching Session was held in January, and another is scheduled for May 1. Planning has begun for a Leadership Development Day on Oct. 26 to coincide with the Oct. 27-29 Ontario Anesthesia Meeting and Conference Weekend at the Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto. 

A leadership webinar is being discussed, and a leadership development resource section added to our website. Our Executive and interested working group members have been prepared to talk to the media, as a result of training led by the OMA.

We will continue to fine-tune our processes and ensure supports are in place to optimize the contributions of our Executive, working groups, committees, volunteers and members.

Member Services – Building our brand and working as a team 

With more than 1,900 anesthesiologists — 1,474 practicing — Ontario’s Anesthesiologists is one of the largest sections within the OMA. 

Telling our story and engaging in public and government dialogue is key to building our brand. Demonstrating what we do and how it is important for people’s health will ensure we are recognized as partners in health-care transformation. It will help us influence decisions that affect us and the patients we care for.

To promote awareness of who we are and what we have to offer, Lindsay Kneteman, our new Communications and Engagement Coordinator, has begun to implement our 2023 Strategic Communications Plan. You can expect to see a series of blog posts over the next year to help educate the public and stakeholders about the value and thought leadership anesthesiologists bring to the health-care system. Our social media presence will continue to grow and be measured through a more strategic approach to engagement. Because storytelling helps audiences connect more than statistics, we will profile our members who are making a difference across our social media channels including our website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts. 

At the same time, we continue to improve our communications directly to you. Member queries are answered promptly. Updates are provided regularly through our quarterly digital newsletters and bi-annual Chair’s Report. The OMA’s new OMA Connect mobile app provides a community for our discussions, event notifications and materials.

Patient Care — An anesthesiologist for every patient

As the voice of anesthesiologists in Ontario we are committed to empowering the practice of anesthesia to deliver the highest level of patient care possible. 

A great deal of it comes down to staffing and how we manage our growing workload. Anesthesiologists are faced with a critical staffing shortage at the same time as the scope of what we are asked to do expands.

Ontario is trying to wrestle with a growing surgical backlog by expanding private clinics, without clear details on how to increase staff or what it will mean for the rest of the system.

Manitoba’s reliance on out-of-hospital surgical facilities to address the backlog has drained anesthesiologists from hospitals and resulted in some hospitals assigning one anesthesiologist to cover two rooms running a general anesthetic by  using physician extenders. The movement towards Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists providing anesthetics in British Columbia hasn’t gone away.

We are united with the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society (CAS) in our position that anesthesia must be led by physicians and that a one-to-one model of anesthesia delivery is the only acceptable kind for deep sedation and general anesthetics. Under the CAS’s new CEO’s strategic plan, they have hired a government relations firm to boost advocacy and establish our presence at a pan-Canadian level. We are building a stronger bridge with this group and supporting this initiative.

Our Anesthesia Health Human Resources Working Group’s forthcoming background paper and position statement will help define us even more clearly as physician leaders of anesthesia care.

Advocacy and Stakeholder Relations — Influencing decisions 

Ontario’s Anesthesiologists were well represented at the OMA’s successful advocacy day in November, where I was one of about 90 physicians who attended more than 40 meetings at Queen’s Park with cabinet ministers and MPPs spanning all parties. 

The shortage of doctors across the system and the surgical backlog emerged as shared priorities and provided an opportunity to build relationships and alignment that yielded further engagement with decision-makers and influencers.

I discussed our SolvingPain public resource to help address the opioid crisis with MPP Michael Tibollo, the province’s Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. A briefing on our environmental work with Mike Shreiner, Leader of the Green party, resulted in a meeting with our Environmental Sustainability Working Group and a commitment to table a motion in the legislature to eliminate desflurane, a strong contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. 

We were front and centre during Ontario’s pre-budget consultations, engaging in a discussion on solutions to the surgical backlog and wait times with Minister Bethlenfalvy and MPPs Nina Tangri, Rudy Cuzetto and Deepak Anand. In a meeting with MPP Stephen Crawford, Parliamentary Assistant to the Finance Minister, we advocated for increased funding to address doctor and staffing shortages, the need for more team-based care, increased funding to train more anesthesia assistants, and ensuring resources to reduce administrative burden so doctors can be doctors. 

We continue to align our advocacy with the work of the OMA, which has asked for our input to ensure our perspectives are reflected in a 2023 update to its four-year advocacy platform, Prescription for Ontario: Doctors’ 5-Point Plan for Better Health Care. 

As your Chair, I will continue to represent your interests on every platform, in every venue. We can achieve even more by working together. I encourage you to reach out and get involved in any way you can. 

Sincerely,

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