June 13, 2024

Dear . Manitoba,



About a month ago, I started my term as President of Doctors Manitoba. It’s a privilege to represent all physicians and medical learners in Manitoba, to support you and to advocate for the resources and environment you need to thrive in medicine. I look forward to connecting with members in the year ahead to inform my work, and to ensure Doctors Manitoba continues to be guided by member priorities and responsive to concerns.

It’s also my privilege to share a new Strategic Plan for Doctors Manitoba. This plan is important because it guides everything we do as your medical association for you and on your behalf for the next four years.

• Watch a video message from Dr. Guzman if you prefer.

This plan was built following extensive consultation with members including feedback from over 1,500 of you, plus a review of how medical associations in other provinces are serving their members too. While our research found the vast majority of members – over 86% – are satisfied with Doctors Manitoba, we also saw feedback from some who want us to do more to support them. We hear all of you, and our new plan is designed to focus us on supporting all of you.

I invite you to learn more about our new Strategic Plan and what it will mean for you.

You’ll see we have maintained our vision and mission for Doctors Manitoba, to strengthen and support the whole physician in pursuit of ensuring every doctor has the support they need to deliver exceptional care to Manitobans. This means a continued focus on not only your economic needs, but also your professional, physical, and mental well-being.

What’s new in this plan is a strategic focus on helping physicians be physicians. We’ve heard your frustration about how too many obstacles get in the way of doing what you trained to do and doing what you love. You’ll see us pushing for less paperwork and advocating for more physician-led team-based care. We are developing new resources to support your professional and business obligations, while fighting for a more stable and easier-to-navigate health care system for you and your patients. Our goal is to give you your time back.

We’ve also introduced two foundational elements that are integrated into everything we do: supporting physician health and wellness, and pursuing equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization within the profession and health system. Our Doc360 physician health and wellness supports continue to expand, and we must play a bigger role than ever in ensuring our profession is more inclusive and equitable, while we also push to disrupt racism and discrimination.

The four-year plan continues our focus on other strategic priorities, such as our bedrock mandate to ensure the economic well-being of all physicians. While our current physician services agreement came with a record level of new funding, we know some groups still need innovative change and modernization to ensure remuneration models match today’s medical practice while keeping you competitive with other jurisdictions. We will be driving this work in tandem with our other existing priorities including delivering exceptional service to members, fostering member unity, and being the influential voice for profession in Manitoba.

Please review our plan. Like everything we do in medicine, our plan is continuously evolving. As the health system changes, as we hear from members, we will review and adapt our plans accordingly. This is why it’s so essential for you to reach out and connect with our team at Doctors Manitoba when things work well, and when you need our help for things to work better. Email the team at practiceadvice@doctorsmantoba.ca. Our team at Doctors Manitoba is dedicated to supporting you, every step of the way.

I hope you find some time this summer for family, fun, or whatever helps to refuel you after a busy winter and spring.

Sincerely,

Dr. Randolph Guzman, M.D. FRCSC, FACS, RVT, RPVI, ICD.D

President

PS: Join us September 3 for our 2^nd Annual Golf Tournament to reconnect with colleagues and friends, and to make new connections too. Early bird pricing is available until June 26! Learn more and register here.