TORONTO, May 28, 2021 — The Ontario Medical Association today awarded honorary membership to Globe and Mail health columnist André Picard.
Picard was recognized for his reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to his decades of health-care coverage.
Picard has been a staff writer at the Globe since 1987. He is also the author of six books.
Picard received his award during a virtual gala kicking off the OMA’s weekend Annual General Meeting. It’s part of the OMA Awards Program, which is celebrating its 100th year recognizing the work of physicians, residents, medical students and others for outstanding contributions or service to the Ontario Medical Association, the medical profession, medical science or the common good.
“André Picard’s accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on us locally, provincially and globally, provided a voice of transparency, uncovering gaps and promoting the cause of a sustainable health-care system,” Dr. Sohail Gandhi, past president of the OMA, said at the awards ceremony. “Agreed and disagreed with him over the years, but he’s always made me think.”
Up to 25 Honorary OMA Members are permitted at any time, and there are currently only 12, with Picard becoming the 13th. Picard is only the second journalist on the list joining Joan Hollobon, who was the medical reporter for The Globe and Mail from 1959 until her retirement in 1985.
The Ontario Medical Association represents Ontario’s 43,000 plus physicians, medical students and retired physicians, advocating for and supporting doctors while strengthening the leadership role of doctors in caring for patients. Our vision is to be the trusted voice in transforming Ontario’s health-care system.
For more information, please contact OMA Media Relations at media@oma.org.