OMR Fall 2021

Fall 2021 – Vol. 88 No. 3

12 Diverse voices shape 26 Physicians expose issues
OMA recommendations plaguing the North

18 Dive into doctors’ plan 32 Home-care funding
to improve health care shortage takes human toll

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ATOPIC DERMATITIS

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A closer look has revealed
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responsible for much of
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References: 1. Evolution of Atopic Dermatitis in the 21st Century. Springer, 2019. 2. JAK-STAT Signaling in Diseases. CRC Press, 2020.
3. Weinstein M, et al. Atopic Dermatitis: A Practical Guide to Management. Eczema Society of Canada, 2020.
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BOARD DIRECTORS OFFICERS OF THE BOARD

Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman Dr. Paul Conte
Mississauga Chair of the Board
Kitchener
Dr. Sanjay Acharya
Ottawa Dr. Adam Kassam
President
Denise Carpenter Toronto
Toronto
Dr. Samantha Hill
David Collie Immediate Past President
Glen Williams Toronto

Dr. Paul Conte Dr. Rose Zacharias
Kitchener President-Elect
Oro-Medonte
Dr. Cathy Faulds
London GENERAL ASSEMBLY STEERING COMMITTEE

Dr. Audrey Karlinsky Dr. Veronica Legnini
Vice-Chair of the Board Chair
Toronto Kingston

Dr. Adam Kassam Dr. Atul Kapur
Toronto Vice-Chair
Ottawa
Carmen Rossiter
Toronto Learn more about your board and
General Assembly at:
Dr. Cynthia Walsh
Ottawa oma.org/governance-representation

Dr. Hirotaka Yamashiro
Toronto

OMA MISSION OMA VISION
Advocate for and support doctors. Strengthen the To be the trusted voice in transforming
leadership role of doctors in caring for patients. Ontario’s health-care system.

OMA CORE VALUES

Respectful: We treat everyone with dignity, and value diverse experiences and perspectives.

Innovative: We seek opportunities to be creative and explore future possibilities.

Bold: We courageously pursue best practices, new ideas, solutions and opportunities to improve.

Responsive: We listen and connect to understand.

Transparent: We are genuine and candid in our interactions, and we hold ourselves accountable.

Ontario Medical Review 1 Fall 2021

Contents
Vol. 88 No. 3 | Fall 2021

Guest Editor

John Bozzo, OMA chief, Member Relations, Advocacy and Communications
shares his hope that all parties campaigning in the next provincial election will act
on doctors’ recommendations for a better health-care system. Bozzo urges the
next government to take the lessons learned from COVID and SARS to reduce
death, suffering and economic hardship to the people of Ontario (p.11).

Diverse voices help shape OMA’s 5-Point Plan in
OMA’s plan for better care (p.12) comprehensive detail (p.18)

Largest consultation process in association’s history Complete overview of association’s five key recom-
key to revealing health-care priorities that informed mendations in the Prescription for Ontario: Doctors’
recommendations 5-Point Plan for Better Health Care

In Every Issue 45 Classifieds Fall 2021
48 Publisher’s Notes
1 OMA Board of Directors 48 Advertisers’ Index
4 OMA Constituency Groups
42 In Memoriam 2

Ontario Medical Review

7 President’s Message 9 CEO Update

Speak out now to help Prescribing a remedy:
influence political platforms Doctors develop plan to
in 2022 election fix gaps in health system

Health System 37 OMATalks
& Advocacy Doctors document COVID’s
devastating fallout on mental health
25 OMA health-care recommendations:
Key advocacy activities planned 40 Psychiatric Dimensions of
Disasters conference: Experts
26 Physicians teetering on the edge: weigh in on pandemic's toll
Doctor shortages, burnout plague
the North Your
Association
30 Planning health care through an
equity lens keeps patients from 15 Ontario’s doctors choose OMA
falling through cracks Priority Insurance Program

32 Ottawa family shares struggle to 24 Advantages Retirement PlanTM
find home care for disabled son
36 OMA Physician Health Program:
Confidential service offers support

Ontario Medical Review 44 In Memoriam online honours
deceased physicians’ legacy

3 Fall 2021

Constituency Groups

Section Chairs Geriatric Medicine Otolaryngology – Head
Dr. Andrew David Baker and Neck Surgery
Addiction Medicine Dr. Vincent Lin
Dr. Christopher Cavacuiti Hematology and
Medical Oncology Palliative Medicine
Allergy and Clinical Immunology Dr. Timothy Asmis Dr. Pamela Liao
Dr. Mariam Hanna
Hospital Medicine Pediatrics
Cardiac Surgery Dr. Stephen Chin Dr. Giuliana Federici
Dr. Joseph Noora
Infectious Diseases Physical Medicine
Cardiology Dr. Zain Chagla and Rehabilitation
Vacant Dr. Zeeshan Waseem
Laboratory Medicine
Chronic Pain Dr. Victor Tron Plastic Surgery
Dr. Michael Surkont Dr. Ryan Austin
Long Term Care/
Critical Care Medicine Care of the Elderly Primary Care Mental
Dr. Michael Warner Dr. Hugh Boyd Health
Dr. Michael Paré
Dermatology Medical Students
Dr. Sandra Landolt Ms. Ushma Purohit Psychiatry
Dr. Maryna Mammoliti
Diagnostic Imaging Nephrology
Dr. Mark Baerlocher Dr. Lakshman Gunaratnam Public Health Physicians
Dr. Michael Finkelstein
Emergency Medicine Neurology
Dr. Cristina Pastia Dr. Jamsheed Desai Radiation Oncology
Dr. Robert Dinniwell
Endocrinology and Metabolism Neuroradiology
Dr. Farid Boutros Dr. Sachin Pandey Reproductive Biology
Dr. Clifford Librach
Eye Physicians and Neurosurgery
Surgeons of Ontario Dr. Mehdi Shahideh Residents
Dr. Richard Weinstein Dr. Ryan Giroux
Nuclear Medicine
Gastroenterology Dr. David Thomas Laidley Respiratory Disease
Dr. David Geoffrey Morgan Dr. Neil Maharaj
Obstetrics and
General and Family Practice Gynecology Rheumatology
Dr. David Schieck Dr. Constance Nasello Dr. John Carter Thorne

General Internal Medicine Occupational and Sport and Exercise
Dr. Benjamin Bell Environmental Medicine Medicine
Dr. Marina Afanasyeva Dr. Lee Mark Schofield
General Surgery
Dr. Kevin Lefebvre Ontario’s Anesthesiologists Urology
Dr. Monica Olsen Dr. John Kell
General Thoracic Surgery
Dr. Christian Finley Orthopedic Surgery Vascular Surgery
Dr. Jeremy Alan Hall Dr. Heather Cox
Genetics
Dr. Christine Armour

Ontario Medical Review 4 Fall 2021

Constituency Groups

District Chairs Medical Interest Groups/Chairs

District 1 Cannabinoid Medicine
Dr. Albert Ng Dr. Marni Brooks

District 2 Clinic Endoscopists
Dr. Sharadindu Rai Dr. Andrew Bellini
Dr. Nelson King
District 3
Dr. David Schieck Clinical Hypnosis
Dr. Mussarrat Qaadri
District 4
Dr. Richard Tytus College and University Student Health
Vacant
District 5
Dr. Sohal Goyal Community Health Centres (CHC)
and Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHAC)
District 6 Dr. Anandita Gokhale
Dr. Natalie Leahy
Complementary and Integrative Medicine
District 7 Dr. Esther Konigsberg
Dr. Joy Hataley
Fee For Service Family Physician
District 8 Dr. Riva Levitan
Dr. Christine Tai
Green is Health
District 9 Dr. Kim-Chi Tran
Dr. Stephen Cooper
Hyperbaric Medicine
District 10 Dr. Wayne Evans
Dr. Stephen Viherjoki
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
District 11 Dr. Alvin Loh
Dr. Lisa Salamon
Ontario Psychiatric Hospitals
Forum Chairs Dr. Suzanne Allain

Academic Medicine Forum Primary Care Solo Physicians
Dr. D. Blake Woodside Dr. Cathy Mastrogiacomo
Rural Medicine Forum
Dr. Theodore Wallace Mitchell Sleep Medicine
Dr. Avrum Soicher

Surgical Assistants
Dr. Martha Riesberry

Ontario Medical Review 5 Fall 2021

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