college connection
COUNCIL NEWS
COUNCIL ELECTS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Dr. Steven Jacobs, of Guelph, Ontario, is the new president of the College.“ I am looking forward to the coming year and serving as Council President as Council undertakes its work in managing the risks involved in delivering safe, quality veterinary medicine in Ontario,” said Dr. Jacobs.“ In the coming year, our agenda will include continued work on the new facility accreditation model; a growing focus on professionalism in veterinary medicine; continued attention to antimicrobial resistance and our role in response to this global public health concern. As well, we will continue work on initiatives regarding telemedicine and animal welfare. Dr. Jacobs graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1979 and has worked in clinical practice, and also in the pharmaceutical and pet food industries. Dr. Jacobs was first elected to Council in 2013.“ I am proud to be a member of the veterinary profession in Ontario and I am committed to the College’ s mandate to protect the public interest. The public and the profession put their trust in the College to establish standards which enable the public to access quality veterinary medicine in Ontario,” said Dr. Jacobs. At its recent Annual Council meeting, the College welcomed three new members of Council. Joining Council are Dr. Peter Borgs, a veterinarian from Guelph with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency; Dr. Shannah Kavonic, a companion animal veterinarian from Toronto; and, Dr. Lorie Gold, a practice owner and companion animal veterinarian from Oakville. All three were elected in the general election held in October. Council also elected its Executive Committee consisting of Dr. Jacobs, President; Dr. Patricia Lechten, 1st Vice-President; Dr. Susan Warren, 2nd Vice-President; Dr. Marc Marin, Past President and Ms. Claudia Newman, Public Member. Appointments were also made to the College’ s statutory committees and details can be found on the College’ s website at www. cvo. org. As a self-regulated profession, the College’ s governing Council is comprised of 13 elected veterinarians and five public members, appointed by the provincial government.
MODERNIZATION OF THE VETERINARIANS ACT
At its December meeting, Council approved the recommendations for modernizing the Veterinarians Act with amendments based on stakeholder feedback.
Following a thorough review of 19 proposed concepts, which have been open for consultation over the past couple years, Council approved a motion to present the recommendations to the provincial government early in 2018.
The proposed concepts identify areas for government’ s consideration in modernizing the legislation. Key concepts include:
• Redefining the scope of practice of veterinary medicine
• Recognizing veterinary medicine as a system and acknowledging the skills of veterinary technicians on the team
• Acknowledging that health care activities, such as massage therapy, manual therapy, and others, should be directly accessed by animal owners
• Increasing public member representation on Council / committees
• Introducing a more streamlined approach to managing investigations and their resolutions
• Introducing a mandatory quality assurance program
• Permitting interim suspensions and emergency investigations to take place swiftly in high risk circumstances
• Increasing the information on the public register including the posting of notices of a hearing
Executive Committee( l-r) Public Member Ms. Claudia Newman, Past President Dr. Marc Marin, President Dr. Steven Jacobs, 1st Vice President Dr. Patricia Lechten, and 2nd Vice President Dr. Susan Warren.
Modernization of the Veterinarians Act is essential to promote the profession with the best tools possible to protect animals and the public. The Council appreciates all the input that has been received throughout the consultations.
4 / College Connection