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This week’s Vitals is 1,300 words or a 5 minute read. If you only have 1 minute, here are the highlights:
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Administrative Burden Report – One Year Later: We are making progress on reducing your administrative burden through initiatives to get fax machines out of the health care system, maximize your note-taking efficiency and eliminate sick notes in Manitoba. We are also happy to announce our new Medical Lead for Reducing Administrative Burden!
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Let’s Fix Referrals and Requisitions: Join us for a day-long summit October 31 at Princess Auto Stadium as we tackle issues like creating a central referral directory, improving the process for diagnostic imaging and labs and eliminating fax machines. Plus, all attendees will be entered to win 2 tickets to the Grey Cup!
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Canada Post Strike Update: Canada Post is still on strike, so we encourage you to sign up for direct deposit to ensure you receive CPD rebates and other payments from us.
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St. Boniface ER Opens: The new 86,000 sq. foot space includes an expanded central resuscitation area, private exam rooms in treatment areas, a larger waiting room and dedicated ambulance entrance.
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Construction at New Victoria ER Set for January: The new emergency department at Victoria Hospital will replace the existing urgent care centre and will include additional inpatient beds, more diagnostic capacity and a high-observation unit to support acute care. What do you think?
Plus, the Manitoba Legislative Assembly is back in session. We’re monitoring proceedings closely and advocating for issues that matter to you.
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Administrative Burden Report: One Year Later
It's been one year since our Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens released its final report calling for significant changes to unnecessary paperwork and administrative tasks physicians face. Since then, we’ve been making progress toward a better referral system, making note-taking nimbler through AI scribes, and engaging with government to eliminate sick notes through legislation.
Now, we are very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Alexis Botkin as our new Medical Lead for Reducing Administrative Burden! As we plan our next year of administrative burden priorities, we invite you to send your concerns and ideas related to our team by emailing adminburden@doctorsmanitoba.ca.
Learn what else is in store!
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Let’s Fix Referrals and Requisitions!
Join us on October 31 for our Referral and Consultation Summit, an event we’re hosting in partnership with the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Shared Health. Together, we are aiming to make the whole referral and requisition process work better, both for sending and receiving physicians.
The Summit will focus on several topics related to referrals and consultations:
- What could a referral directory look like to help refer patients to the right consultant the first time?
- What could help consulting physicians reduce the number of misdirected referrals and missing information?
- What’s needed to improve the requisition and reporting process for diagnostic imaging and labs?
- What would it take to eliminate the fax machine for referrals and requisitions?
- How can we improve consulting options for emergent (same day on-call), urgent advice (one week e-Consult or RACE), and elective (consultation) situations?
- How can the CPSM Standard for Collaborative Care better reflect the varied needs and interests of the profession while remaining patient-centered?
The Summit will spotlight promising practices from other provinces, and include important perspectives from:
- Dr. Nichelle Desilets, President of Doctors Manitoba
- Dr. Alexis Botkin, Medical Lead for Reducing Administrative Burden
- Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk, Registrar and CEO of CPSM
- Dr. Chris Christodoulou, Interim President and CEO of Shared Health
Learn more and register today!
Plus, all attendees will be entered to win 2 tickets to the Grey Cup!
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Simpler Insurance Form Coming
We have been working with the national insurance industry to share your concerns and advocate for a better process that currently includes excessively long requests and different forms from different companies. This week, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association released a new standard disability form. Other provinces have reported a form like this cuts down on paperwork time, but we want to hear from you.
Learn more and access the new standardized form here.
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Canada Post Strike Update
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) went on strike on September 25, following the federal government’s proposal to end daily mail delivery, close some rural post offices, and add more community mailboxes. If you haven’t already signed up for direct deposit with Doctors Manitoba, please do so to ensure you receive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) rebates and other payments, as well as to avoid delays in receiving future payments from Doctors Manitoba.
Enroll here.
Learn more about how the strike may affect your patients.
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New Physician Leadership Institute Course
Doctors Manitoba is pleased to offer a new course from the CMA’s Physician Leadership Institute (PLI), called Mobilizing Change in Healthcare.
📆 November 21, 2025 from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (virtual)
🖊️ Accredited for up to 3.5 hours
📚 Faculty: Shazma Mithani, MD, FRCPC
It is open to all physicians who want to proactively inform, shape and influence at the local, provincial and federal levels by discussing strategies and learning more about navigating institutional and government pathways.
Registration is now open! Sign up today to reserve your spot.
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PAR Client Survey
Have you accessed counselling, peer support and/or addictions medicine services at Physicians at Risk (PAR) in the last year? Please consider completing this 4-minute survey. All responses are anonymous.
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New St. Boniface ER Opens
Years in the making, a new ER has opened at St. Boniface Hospital. St. Boniface continues to experience long wait times, reflecting factors outside of the ER like a lack of flow through to inpatient beds, but the new space is over 86,000 square feet, triple the size of the old space.
The $154 million project brings several improvements:
- An expanded, central resuscitation area
- A dedicated diagnostic imaging suite, with a new CT scanner and x-ray machine
- Private exam rooms in treatment areas
- A dedicated mental health treatment area
- An expanded waiting room and triage area
- A dedicated ambulance entrance and parking bay for 10 ambulances
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New Victoria Emergency Department Project to Start in January
The new emergency department at Victoria Hospital will replace the existing urgent care centre and include additional inpatient beds, additional diagnostic capacity and a high-observation unit to support acute care.
We know there have been mixed views about this project in the past and invite physicians to let us know what they think by emailing practiceadvice@doctorsmanitoba.ca.
Learn more here.
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Manitoba Legislature Back in Session
The Manitoba legislative session resumed this week, with provincial leaders saying they are focused on health care, affordability and public safety. We are closely monitoring for developments related to our health system, and as we engage with officials, we invite you to share your feedback to help inform those discussions.
Email us at practiceadvice@doctorsmanitoba.ca.
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Vaccine Program Updates
Manitoba’s respiratory illness season is underway and the first deliveries of flu and COVID-19 vaccines are out. Manitoba has also expanded its RSV immunization program for infants, effective this week.
Check out our important reminders and resources here.
Plus, on Thursday, October 9 from 8 - 9 a.m., join Dr. Aaron Chiu, Neonatologist and Associate Dean for Quality Improvement and Accreditation at the Max Rady College of Medicine, for a virtual Grand Rounds on the past, present, and future of the RSV program in Manitoba. Any interested physicians and colleagues are welcome to attend!
Add this meeting link to your calendar!
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Measles Update
A premature baby who contracted measles in utero has died in Alberta, the first death associated with the province’s outbreak, which has now seen nearly 2,000 cases. This is the second reported measles-related death in Canada. The first, reported by the Ontario government in June, was a baby born prematurely and infected with measles in Southwestern Ontario.
Manitoba now has 216 confirmed and 18 probable cases of measles since February of this year. We’re keeping track of the province’s updates and resources for you and your patients on the Doctors Manitoba Measles page.
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Project ECHO Sessions Ahead
Shared Health’s Extension of Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program is set to launch a new 8-week interactive course on Child and Adolescent ADHD beginning October 24. This course is open to primary care providers who are currently treating pediatric clients/patients with ADHD and are seeking to collaborate with others in their treatment planning. Participants that register are encouraged to attend all sessions.
Learn more and register here by October 21.
Full schedule available here.
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Doctors Manitoba’s job board has 5 new practice opportunities for physicians in Manitoba this week at the following clinics: Klinic Community Health, Nine Circles Community Health and Health Plus Medical Centre. Check it out!
You can find more opportunities listed by the Manitoba government here.
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Here are the most-read and important recent stories, in case you missed them:
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Advancing Indigenous Representation in Health Care: Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC) recently released Answering the Call: Strategies to Increase the Number of Indigenous Physicians in Canada. Read the report.
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Family Practice AGM: All family physicians are encouraged to attend the upcoming Annual General Meeting for the Section of Family Medicine on Wednesday, Oct. 22 beginning at 6 p.m. Register here.
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CBTm for Physicians and Medical Learners: The next series of CPD accredited live virtual classes will be Tuesdays from 6:00 –8:00 PM starting October 7, 2025 to November 4, 2025. Learn more here.
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We feature events planned by Doctors Manitoba, as well as other events submitted by the medical community to share and connect with their peers.
Featured event:
29th Annual Bug Day
⏰ October 23, at 7:55 a.m. to 4 p.m.
📌 Online
🐛 Nationally and internationally recognized experts will present timely topics in infectious diseases and public health at Manitoba’s largest healthcare education event.
Learn more and register here.
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More events:
2025 Canadian Conference on Physician Health, October 17-18, Vancouver & virtual. Register by October 14 for the online option.
Mentorship Program Fall Connection Event: Improv Show, October 23, 6 – 9 p.m., Winnipeg. To kick off the 2025/2026 mentorship year, the evening will include a show, dinner and great prizes. Learn more and register here.
Black Physicians of Canada Conference, October 24 – 26, Toronto. This year’s theme is Stronger Together, drawing on BPC’s new 2025 – 2030 strategic plan. Learn more and register here.
Family Medicine Forum (FMF), November 5 – 8, Winnipeg. FMF is Canada’s largest and most comprehensive annual conference for family physicians hosted by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). Learn more and register here.
Peer Support for Physicians: Evidence and Ways to Access Support, November 19, 5 – 5:45 p.m. Virtual. Join Dr. Alexis Botkin and Doctors Manitoba for an overview of peer support, and the evidence for how peer support benefits physicians. View event details and register.
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We are here to support the whole physician.
Every step of the way.
Your health & well-being are important to us.
Visit DRMB.ca/HELP to connect to support services or call 1.844.433.3762
For all other support, including benefits and insurance support,
career resources or practice advice please
email general@doctorsmanitoba.ca or call 204.985.5888
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Visit DRMB.ca/Bannatyne for more information on our Bannatyne office and to view the full calendar.
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