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Dr. Chris Vinden, MD, FRCSC (May, 2016 - Present)
OMA Section Chair on General Surgeons & Immediate OAGS Past President
General Surgeon, London Health Sciences Centre, Victoria Hospital

I am a General Surgeon practicing in London, Ontario. Although I work in an academic centre, I spent 7 years in community practice in Sarnia and feel I am familiar with the issues faced by both community and academic surgeons. I have been involved in provincial political issues for many years. I am the currently the section chair for general surgery at the OMA and the past president of the Ontario Association of General Surgeons. I feel that the OMA’s number one priority is to deal with the massive inequities in income that exist between various specialties. They can no longer do minor tweaks this expecting underpaid specialties to eventually rise to parity with higher paid groups. That is a ridiculous scenario that fiscally impossible. The only tenable solution is drastic cuts to overpaid specialties. I will advocate vigourously for the OMA to set a rigid timetable for relativity issues to be resolved , but I am skeptical that the OMA has the political will to be able to accomplish this. Hopefully recent events will spur the OMA to make some hard decisions. I don’t think it would be unreasonable for the ministry to act unilaterally in regards to gravy train specialties if the OMA will not commit.

Dr. Chris Vinden is a General Surgeon at Victoria Hospital, Division of General Surgery, London Health Sciences Centre and Associate Professor of the Dept. of Surgery, Western University. He has also held the roles of Chief of Surgery Associate Chief of Staff. Dr. Vinden's main area of interest is colon screening.


OMA Section Executive on General Surgery was acclaimed on January 2019). All terms are 1 year in duration.
  1. Chair:Dr. Chris Vinden, London - District #2
  2. Vice Chair:Dr. Tim Jackson, Toronto - District #11
  3. Secretary:Dr. Harshad Telang, Thunder Bay - District #10
  4. Tariff Chair: Dr. Keven Lefebvre, Stratford - District
  5. Member-at-Large: Dr. Jennifer Macmillan, Huntsville
  6. Member-at-Large: Dr. Eric Touzin, Sioux Lookout
  7. Past Chair: Dr. Jeff Kolbasnik

OMA Council Delegates and Alternates - 2019
  1. Delegate: Dr. Chris Vinden
  2. Delegate: Dr. Kevin Lefebvre
  3. Alternate: Dr. Peter Dauphinee
  4. Alternate: Dr. Trevor Bardell
  5. Alternate: Dr. Harshad Telang
  6. Alternate: Dr. Tim Jackson

2019

2018

  • Physician Burnout: If you see a colleague/trainee struggling, start the conversation. Tell him/her what you're seeing. Listen. - Resources     (see poll below also)
  • Dec.19 - Attn. OAGS Members - check your email for the latest E-Update (December)!
  • We need your ideas for monthly polls - here
  • Dec.16- Gov't will return to table and resume arbitration with OMA. Hearings RESCHEDULED to begin Tues,Dec.18 until Dec.21. More details here.
  • Dec.14 - Letters re. OMA-Gov't Arbitration Update - Download
  • Straw Poll Below - What kind of job action would you take in response to the government's withdrawal from arbitration again?
  • 24th OAGS Annual Meeting - thank you to everyone who attended! Photos and syllabus updates coming soon!
  • General Surgery Position Statement on OSA - Download
  • GI Podcasts (i.e.Cannabis for Treatment of GI diseases) - Click here
  • GenSurg Work Hours Survey: Deadline is Oct.20. Did you remember to complete it?
  • Check out our 2018 Annual Meeting Program: Download
  • OAGS Board Election Nov.3: Nomination Deadline is October 19 - Apply Online Here!!
  • 24th OAGS Annual Meeting Program (Nov.3) - Our International Key Note Speaker will be hernia specialist Dr. David Krpata of the Cleveland Clinic accompanied by a great roster of speakers and panelists. Registration Deadline: Oct.26! - details
  • Ongoing - Attn. General Surgeons - Renew your 2018 OAGS Dues Now!!
  • HAPPY CANADA DAY WEEKEND!!! - Thanks to all our General Surgeons who are on call!
  • 24th OAGS Annual Meeting Program (Nov.3) - almost complete!! - details
  • June 29, 2018 - New Minister of Health & Long-Term Care and Deputy Premier of Ontario - PC MPP Christine Elliott - details
  • June 15, 2018 - Congrats to General Surgery Residents who passed Royal College exam. For those who have to rewrite - keep the faith!! Best wishes on your journey forward.
  • May28...- Attn. GenSurg Residents: Good luck on your exams this week!
  • May 1, 2018 - New Poll!! - How are you voting in the provincial election next month? see below...
  • May 1, 2018 - Happy National Physicians' Day! Thanks to all our hard-working and dedicated General Surgeons throughout Ontario and Canada!
  • April 30, 2018 - Spring OMA Council Update - Dr. Nadia Alam of Georgetown succeeds Dr. Shawn Whatley as OMA President. Dr. Sohail Gandhi of Stayner becomes new President Elect. - details
  • April - Congratulations!!... to 30-year community General Surgeon, NOSM Associate Professor and foreign aid worker Dr. Roy Kirkpatrick of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare as recipient of the 2018 OMA Section Service Award for General Surgery. Proud nominators OMA Section on General Surgery and Ontario Association of General Surgeons plan to present the award to Dr. Kirkpatrick in front of his colleagues during the 24th OAGS Annual Meeting this fall in Toronto on Nov. 3. https://goo.gl/fC4z6S http://goo.gl/Qkdd7Q www.oags.org/agm.html


  • April 1 - In Memoriam: Dr. Magdy Makar, Orillia, ON - details
  • Mar.7 - OMA Election Results: Here is your Section Executive on General Surgery...
    Section Executive:
    Section Chair - Dr. Chris Vinden; Vice Chair - Dr. Alice Wei; Secretary - Dr. Harshad Telang; Tariff Chair - Dr. Kevin Lefebvre; Member-at-Large - Dr. Tim Jackson; Member-at-Large - Dr. Jennifer Macmillan
    Section Delegates: Drs. Alice Wei and Jennifer Macmillan; Section Alternates: Drs. Harshad Telang, Kevin Lefebvre, Tim Jackson.
    More details (gated)
  • Jan, 2018 - With no headway in negotiations, OMA and MOHLTC will enter binding arbitration starting in May-Oct/18.
  • Jan, 2018 - OAGS/Section on Gen Surg want member feedback on Quality Based Procedures on your practice
  • Jan, 2018 - OAGS/Section on General Surgery want member feedback on CCO Colonoscopy Sedation Report

2017

Dec, 2017 - CCO Practice Recommendations: Use of Sedation for Hospital-Based Routine Colonoscopies (2017)
Nov.13, 2017 - 23rd OAGS Annual Meeting photo gallery now available. Save the Date for next year's 24th OAGS Annual Meeting slated for Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018! - more details.
Sept, 2017 - OMA Relativity Review Committee (RRC) Survey (due Sept.17): Both Section on General Surgery and OAGS executives encourage full time General Surgeons to participate and fill out the survey accurately, but also be mindful and fastidious that every minute may count. Include in your work hours ALL clinical activities, not just hours involved in direct patient contact. (Refer to OAGS/Section email instructions dated Sept.5th and 8th.) General Surgery needs to be well represented in this data, so thank you in advance for participating, everyone!
CAUTIONARY NOTE: Members are reminded that each member was emailed an individualized link to participate in the OMA Relativity Review Committee (RRC) Survey on Sept.1 and again on Sept.8. (Deadline is Sep.17.) Therefore, we cannot post a generic link to the survey. The survey links were sent to each OMA physician with an active practice only - not retired, residents, fellows, etc. They were emailed via the OMA "ThoughtLounge" platform. If you've deleted it by accident, please try to retrieve it from your bin. If you haven't been receiving "ThoughtLounge" emails from the OMA at all, please check your spam folder or your old email accounts. If you unsubscribed or need to update your contact information, contact OMA Membership and specifically request a relativity survey: membership@oma.org AND  cc: AskERA@oma.org . Alternatively, you can call the OMA directly: 1-800-268-7215.

Sept, 2017 - OMA Relativity Survey (due Sept.17): Both Section and OAGS executives encourage full time General Surgeons to participate and fill out the survey accurately, but also be mindful and fastidious that every minute may count. Include in your work hours ALL clinical activities, not just hours involved in direct patient contact. - download letter

Aug/2017 - Did you RSVP for our Annual Meeting on Nov.11 yet? Deadline for group rate hotel reservations is Oct.20!

June 19 - The results are in! OMA members voted 65% to 35% in favour of ratifying the Binding Arbitration Framework Agreement on June 17. Now the OMA/MOHLTC can move on and begin negotiating a new contract for Ontario's Doctors no later than September 1st, 2017.
OMA Member Update (gated); MOHLTC Press Release; News Article Summary

June 12 - Voting on the tentative Agreement on the OMA/MOHLTC negotiated Binding Arbitration Framework has been underway for OMA members since June 7. Voting will continue until the OMA General Meeting of Members in Toronto on Saturday, June 17, 2017 (voting deadline). Both the Ontario Association of General Surgeons and the OMA Section on General Surgery have reviewed the framework, support it and encourage their members to vote in favour of the Agreement. To vote now, click here. (gated)
OAGS Position Statement (June 11/17) - download
More details: MOHLTC, OMA, OMA press release. (gated)

May 28 - The OMA Negotiations Committee invited all Sections to submit their respective wishlist or negotiation priorities list. Jointly discussed by both OAGS and Section executives, the Section on General Surgery wishlist can be downloaded here.

May 18 - A tentative agreement on a process for binding interest arbitration between the Ontario gov't and the OMA has been reached. The tentative agreement will require ratification by the OMA membership. This is also a first step towards renewed discussions for a new Physician Services Agreement. More details: MOHLTC, OMA, OMA press release. (gated)

May 8 - Two GPs take over the helm of the OMA Executive Committee. During the recent OMA Council Meeting, delegates elected Dr. Shawn Whatley as the new OMA President and the Coalition's Dr. Nadia Alam as the new OMA President-Elect.

May 1-7 is Mental Health Week. Check out our own Healthy Surgeon page for helpful resources. Also, the CMA and OMA will be hosting the 5th Canadian Conference on Physician Health this fall (Sept. 7-9).

May 1 - Happy Doctors' Day! Thanks to all our General Surgeons and General Surgery Residents/Fellows for their service and care. It is greatly appreciated!

April - New Negotiating Committees Appointed
OMA: • Dr. Laurence Colman, Chair (Specialist – Obstetrics/Gynecology/Surgical Assisting, Etobicoke/Brampton) • Dr. Darren Cargill (GP – Palliative Care, Windsor) • Dr. David Kelton (Specialist – Vascular Interventional Radiology, Brampton) • Dr. Nikolina Mizdrak (GP – Family Practice, Toronto) • Dr. Paul Tenenbein (Specialist – Anesthesiology, Toronto)
MOHLTC: • Dr. Barry McLellan, CEO, Sunnybrook Health Sciences (chair) • Dr. Joshua Tepper, Family Doctor, St. Michael's Hospital & North York General Hospital; President & CEO of Health Quality Ontario • Ms. Lynn Guerriero, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care • Mr. Reg Pearson, Associate Deputy Minister, Treasury Board Secretariat • Mr. Bob Bass, Negotiations Advisor

Mar.7 - OMA elections are completed. Congratulations to our new and incumbent executive members and council delegates/alternates of the Section on General Surgery! - Details (gated)

Mar.4-5 - The OMA Physician Action Working Group (PAWG) held a meeting for all section and district reps to present their job action perspectives. OAGS President and Section Vice Chair Dr. Alice Wei participated on behalf of General Surgery. PAWG will review all feedback when considering potential job action if contract negotiations with the MOHLTC do not resume.

Contract Negotiations Update
Mar - OMA wants your opinion on Job Action: Take survey now!
Mar.7 - OMA appreciates promising intentions from the gov't but worries MOHLTC won't follow through. As such, they continue to explore potential job action just in case. OMA met with section and district reps on Mar.3-4 for feedback. - OMA Press Release (gated); CBC Interview
Feb.27 - In the absence of an elected OMA executive, the board has appointed Dr. Rachel Forman to serve as primary spokesperson.
Feb.21 - Premier Wynne and Health Minister Eric Hoskins respond by announcing its new negotiating team to act on behalf of the gov't in renewed negotiations with the OMA. First order of business when discussions resume will be to negotiate a binding interest arbitration process. MOHLTC Press Release
Feb.16 - OMA announces its newly appointed Negotiations Committee. - OMA Update (gated)

Feb.15-Mar.7 - Section Election ...PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE BEFORE MARCH 7. - Details (gated)

Feb.7 - After careful consideration of the recent Special Council voting results, the OMA President and Executive have since decided to resign their positions (Feb.6). In doing so, the hope is to reunify doctors and refocus a strong front against the gov't. However, those who are resigning from the Executive and still in the middle of their 2yr term will remain on the OMA Board of Directors. Any Board vacancies will be voted on by Council. From this slate of Board Directors, a new Executive will be nominated and elected during the usual Spring OMA Council Meeting on the weekend of May 6-7, 2017. Please refer to the OMA Bylaws for more details. Until then, the OMA Board at large will be in a position of power and decision making. OMA Press Release; OMA Membership Update (gated).

Jan.29 - Approximately 55% of OMA Council members voted non-confidence in the OMA Executive during the recent OMA Special Council Meeting. However, since OMA bylaws require a 2/3 majority to oust the executive, the resolutions failed. Subsequently, neither the President nor any of the current OMA executive have chosen to resign. OMA leadership remains status quo. OMA Press Release / Media Article - TorStar / Media Article - MedPost

Jan. 28 - As you may know, a small group of physicians have requested a Special OMA Meeting of Council this weekend (Jan.29) to consider motions of non-confidence in the OMA Board and possibly removing the six members of the OMA Executive Committee. General Surgery has released a new position statement regarding how its delegates plan to vote on these resolutions. - Download

Jan.28 - Section Election: The OMA Section on General Surgery executive slate has been acclaimed, but the nominations for Council Delegates are up for election. Section and District voting begins Feb.15-Mar.7. Please remember to vote. - Details (gated)


November 2016

Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Kolbasnik who received the 2016 OMA Section Service Award during the 22nd OAGS Annual Meeting on November 5, 2016.


May 2016

During the OMA Council banquet earlier this spring, two General Surgeons were recognized with the OMA Life Member Award for their years of service to the OMA Section on General Surgery, OAGS and numerous committees. Congratulations to Dr. Suru Chande of Ottawa, Ontario and the late Dr. Alan Ryley of Burling, Ontario - the latter of whom received it posthumously by his wife Ms. A. Esson.

   

OMA Section Election: Details (December 15, 2015 - tentative)

OMA Section Webpage: General Surgery

OMA/MOHLTC Negotiations 2014-15: Unilateral Action Update


November 2015

Congratulations to Dr. Robin McLeod who received the 2015 OMA Section Service Award during the 21st OAGS Annual Meeting on November 6, 2015.


 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2015

Congratulations to Dr. Angus Maciver of Stratford, Ontario. During the OMA Council banquet earlier this month, he received the OMA Life Member Award for his years of service to the OMA Section on General Surgery, OAGS and numerous committees.