Mandate: Smaller board of directors, new General Assembly signals new direction

The OMA’s leadership has supported the organization’s Mandate objective through governance transformation — which included a smaller board — as well as a renewal of the OMA-sponsored Group Disability Insurance program, OMF initiatives and more.

Governance transformation

This year saw the single largest governance transformation in the 140-year history of the OMA, making it a more effective, member-focused organization. Among the transformation highlights were:

• The new OMA Board of Directors has 11 members, down from 26; the first to include non-physician directors; the first time members elected all directors and not just their district directors; first time members directly elected the president-elect; first time all directors were elected at the same time, using the same methodology; the first time all directors were elected in a single election period using ranked, preferential ballot
• Launched the General Assembly after sunsetting Council. This included 125 delegates across 11 districts, two fora and 49 sections, a chair and vice-chair, 21 panel members and three members at large to join the steering committee. The spring meeting and first AGM and General Assembly were held May 29-30
• The board orientation and onboarding process was overhauled, with dedicated orientation sessions, one-on-ones with the governance team and the board retreat. All were highly rated in formal evaluations
• The General Assembly Priority and Leadership Group meeting Sept. 29 was a key milestone. The group was created to set policy priorities and make recommendations to address the opportunities and challenges facing the medical profession in Ontario. It is a fundamental culture shift that will help make the OMA a more effective, member-driven association. Further priority-setting sessions have been held or are planned (Advocacy: Nov. 23, 2021, Issues and Policy: Jan. 17, 2022, and Compensation: Feb. 7, 2022)

OMA Insurance 

OMA Insurance, which welcomed a new board of directors in September 2020, tackled several issues in 2021. The most significant was the September 2021 renewal of the OMA-sponsored Group Disability Insurance program, which had not seen a rate increase since 1997. The new pricing reflects the experience of the plan, provides stability to the disability program for current and future members while remaining competitively priced. Furthermore, OMA Insurance has supports that are unique in the marketplace to help physicians when they need it the most.

The Advantages Retirement Plan^TM won another award this year, making it the winner of three awards in under two years: one global, one international and one national. A series of podcasts and webinars that provide basic financial information to increase financial literacy and highlighting the program’s value are also available. 

Ontario Medical Foundation

The OMF has a new strategic direction and an entirely new board, which began its term Oct. 1. The board is skills-based and comprised of five physicians, three non-physicians and one representative from the OMA Board of Directors. The OMF is currently recruiting for a staff director to provide leadership under its new mandate.

Driving effectiveness of the PSC

A main function of the Physician Services Committee is to implement the Physician Services Agreement. In the past, it has been challenging to conduct Physician Services Committee meetings during negotiations. Nonetheless, during the last several rounds of PSA negotiations, the parties recognized the value of continuing the bilateral committee process to address urgent/emerging issues during the prolonged negotiations, which could include mediation and arbitration.

Two years ago, the committee decided bilaterally to re-emphasize and discuss strategic issues. Since then, it has addressed many critical health-system issues important to both government and the Ontario physician community, such as post-payment accountability, Ontario Health Teams, home and community care, COVID response, influenza program planning, biosimilars, etc. A staff-led secretariat has been set up to set agendas and ensure followup on important issues.

In late 2021, the government questioned the value of continuing meetings of the Physician Services Committee while the PSA negotiations were taking place. Despite this, the organization has managed to maintain the current meeting schedule to continue collaboration and move work forward on important issues, such as virtual care, burnout, physician human resources, education, and COVID response and influenza.