June 29, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

As we transition into summer, I'd like to share an update on where we're headed as your medical association. This includes our focus on retention, two new services we will be introducing, and investments we're making to better support physicians across Manitoba.

Focusing on Retention

Our theme this year is retention.

While Manitoba is doing better on physician recruitment generally, the results are uneven with many specialties and smaller communities facing significant shortages.

At the same time, we need to focus just as much on keeping the physicians we already have. Today, Manitoba continues to lose more physicians to other provinces than we gain. Every physician who chooses to stay means greater continuity of care for patients, stronger teams, and a more sustainable health system.

Retention isn't about one solution. It means making Manitoba a better place to practice medicine by reducing unnecessary administrative burden, improving your work environments, strengthening health system consultation with physicians, investing in team-based care, and ensuring physicians have the equipment and resources they need to provide exceptional care. 

Thanks to your continued feedback and guidance, our advocacy in these spaces has led to some concrete change, including the elimination of sick notes, increased safety measures within our hospitals, and new initiatives like Doctor Directory which you will read about below. 

There is much more work to do to strengthen our health care system, and these priorities will continue to guide our advocacy on your behalf throughout the year.

Investing in What We Can Control

While we continue advocating for improvements from government and the health system, there are also important steps we can take ourselves, as your medical association.

This year, Doctors Manitoba is launching two significant new initiatives designed to make practicing medicine in Manitoba easier and better connected.

Doctor Directory

We're creating Doctor Directory, a modern and comprehensive online directory designed by physicians, for physicians.

Its primary purpose is to make it easier for physicians to find the right colleague for referrals, consultations, and collaboration. Physicians will be able to identify practice interests and areas of focus, referral information, and other details that can help physicians connect with each another more effectively.

When our annual membership renewal opens this August, you will be invited to customize your Doctor Directory profile. We encourage every physician to participate so together we can create one of the most valuable professional resources available to physicians in Manitoba.

PracticeForward

I’m also excited to introduce PracticeForward, a suite of new and expanded services to help physicians move their practice forward every step of the way.

PracticeForward brings together many of the services our members already value plus new resources to help physicians at every stage of their career, from starting practice to retirement. It includes billing and contract advice, practice check-ups, new business of medicine resources, leadership development, and practical assistance to help physicians navigate the challenges of modern practice.

We'll be sharing much more about PracticeForward in the coming weeks through Vitals, and we look forward to introducing you to everything it will offer.

Investing in Our Profession

Starting with this year’s renewal, the annual membership fee will increase by $300, bringing it to $2,145 per year. In approving this change, our Board carefully considered that:

• This increase comes after three straight years of freezing our fee. 
• After this change, Doctors Manitoba's membership fee still be the second lowest in Canada.
• This is the first membership fee increase since our current Physician Services Agreement was finalized in 2023, which included the largest increase in physician funding in Manitoba's history. 

The additional investment will allow us to grow our advocacy bench strength as well. Increasingly, physicians are asking us to help resolve challenges that affect their daily practice rather than just concerns about their remuneration. This includes concerns about outdated and disconnected digital systems, to unnecessary administrative burden, to frustration about not being consulted before changes are made to the health system. We want to be able to respond to more of these requests and help drive practical improvements across Manitoba's health system, and we are building our capacity to do just that.

Thank you for your continued trust and support of Doctors Manitoba. Together, we will continue building a profession where physicians have the support they need to thrive, so they can continue providing exceptional care to Manitobans.

As always, please contact our Doctors Manitoba team with questions or concerns. 

Sincerely,

ALON ALTMAN, H.BSc., MD, FRCSC, CCPE

President