This article originally appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of the Ontario Medical Review magazine.
The task force will consult with members and constituency groups to inform the next PSA negotiations
This is an important year for the Ontario Medical Association’s members, with negotiations for the next Physician Services Agreement due to begin in the fall. Members of the Negotiations Task Force have been appointed and will be consulting with OMA members and constituency groups in the weeks ahead.
These five key members of the NTF were selected in February from a slate of 21 strong candidates. They bring experience, vision, dedication, financial expertise and innovative ideas to their roles as negotiators on behalf of Ontario’s physicians.
Dr. Patrick Conlon is a consultant psychiatrist and former chief of staff at the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital in Goderich. He is a full-time rural fee-for-service physician in hospital, community and private practice. He is a distinguished fellow of both the Canadian and American Psychiatric Associations and adjunct professor of psychiatry at Western University. Dr. Conlon was a member of the previous negotiating team. He has an interest in OMA financial issues and served as chair of the OMA Central Tariff Committee, Central Tariff Committee Appeals Panel and the Joint Schedule of Benefits Committees. He was also a member of the OMA Medical Services Payment, Relativity, Uninsured Services and Audit Committees. He is a past chair of the OMA Section on Psychiatry and attended OMA Council for many years as president of the Huron County Medical Society and chair of OMA District 3. Dr. Conlon is a recipient of the OMA Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Atul Kapur is an emergency physician at The Ottawa Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. He earned his MD at the University of Western Ontario, completed his emergency medicine residency at the University of Manitoba and his M.Sc. (clinical epidemiology) at the University of Ottawa. Throughout his time with the OMA, Dr. Kapur has been dedicated to representing members and advancing physicians’ interests. He has served on and chaired previous negotiations committees and the Physician Services Committee, along with several bilateral committees, including the Appropriateness Working Group and the Academic Medicine Steering Committee. He is a former member of the OMA Board of Directors and currently serves as vice-chair of the General Assembly Steering Committee. Dr. Kapur is also president of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.
Dr. Nikolina Mizdrak is a comprehensive family physician in the family health team at Toronto Western Hospital. She is also an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Mizdrak completed medical school and a family medicine residency at McMaster University, graduating in 2004. She has practised in all types of remuneration models during her career and is currently part of a large academic FHO practice. She is the long-standing chair of finance at her family practice partnership and regularly teaches practice management to residents and acts as a mentor. Dr. Mizdrak was a member of the 2017-2021 negotiating committee that negotiated the binding arbitration framework. She was also a member of the Appropriateness Working Group and the 2021 Negotiations Task Force that reached a mediated PSA with the ministry. It was ratified by OMA membership in 2022. She is currently chair of the Acuity Modifier Working Group and a new member of the Physician Services Committee. Dr. Mizdrak is an outspoken advocate for all physicians and believes in fair treatment and compensation for physicians.
Dr. Dave Neilipovitz is a professor of anesthesiology and critical care at the University of Ottawa and The Ottawa Hospital. In addition to providing clinical care for more than 20 years, he has served in many different leadership roles. He served as a critical care department head for more than 10 years and was the Ontario East regional lead for critical care during the COVID pandemic. He was a section head for Ontario’s Anesthesiologists and co-founded their altruistic Beyond the Mask initiative. Throughout his career, Dr. Neilipovitz has attempted to address challenges through innovation and novel solutions. He helped create the ACES CPR resuscitation course and led the development of the online family satisfaction tool, which is now a standard for all Ontario intensive care units. He continues to help physicians and health professionals improve their knowledge and address their challenges with the bimonthly critical care webinar series Ontario Critical Care Clinical Practice Rounds. With his appointment to the Negotiations Task Force, Dr. Neilipovitz looks forward to finding novel and innovative solutions to benefit physicians and patients.
Dr. Winnie Wong is a family and urgent care physician practising in the Greater Toronto Area, with her primary practice in Richmond Hill. She previously practised emergency medicine at the University Health Network as well as other community-based hospitals in Ontario. Dr. Wong completed medical school and her family medicine residency at the University of Toronto, followed by an emergency medicine fellowship at the University of British Columbia. She is a member of the Education and Prevention Committee of the OMA. Dr. Wong is committed to advocating for all physicians through her work on the NTF.
Steven Barrett practises in the areas of labour and administrative law, constitutional litigation (most recently as lead Ontario Federation of Labour counsel in the Bill 124 challenge), public interest litigation and class actions. He regularly acts for trade unions and professional associations in collective bargaining negotiations and interest arbitrations, including representing health-care workers and physicians, university faculty, firefighters, government lawyers and other government employees and judges. Barrett is also regularly called upon for advice and advocacy by unions, professional associations and central labour bodies on government legislative and policy initiatives. He joined Goldblatt Partners (formerly, Sack Goldblatt Mitchell) in 1985, became a partner in 1988 and has been managing partner since 2006. Barrett has been named by his peers as a leading labour law practitioner in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, and Best Lawyers has consistently recognized him as a leading practitioner in administrative and public law, appellate practice and labour and employment law, and as 2022 Lawyer of the Year for Labour and Employment Law (Toronto).
Howard Goldblatt is a founding partner of Goldblatt Partners LLP and a leading member of the labour law bar. He received his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1976. His practice focuses on all aspects of labour and employment law, including grievance and interest arbitration, workplace human rights, pensions and benefits law. Goldblatt is widely regarded for his expertise in collective bargaining and providing clients with strategic advice for special legislative campaigns. He represents clients before a variety of administrative tribunals and has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada and at all levels of the provincial and federal courts. Goldblatt has been recognized on many occasions for his advocacy skills. He has been selected by his peers to be named in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and in Best Lawyers as a leading practitioner in labour and employment law.