COUNCIL AWARD
An advocate for
patients’ rights
Dr. Bill J. Wong
T
he College presented its Council Award
to Dr. Bill Wong, a Mississauga physician
who is helping lead his hospital’s efforts
to respond to patient requests for medical
assistance in dying.
Dr. Wong is the Program Chief and Medical Direc-
tor of the Department of Anesthesiology at Mississau-
ga’s Trillium Health Partners. He is also the hospital’s
Physician Lead for the Cardiac Surgery ICU.
Since arriving at the hospital in 2000, Dr. Wong
has worn a number of hats that have placed him at
the forefront of initiatives to increase clinical standard-
ization and decrease medical error rates. He has been
widely credited with elevating the standard of practice
of medicine in the hospital as a result of these initiatives.
However, it was his recent work in leading the hospital’s
development of policies and procedures for medical as-
sistance in dying (MAID) that was the impetus for his
nomination by his chief of staff, Dr. Dante Morra.
In coordinating the hospital’s response to this new
medical service, Dr. Wong has stood out as a skilled
communicator who respectfully navigated the diverse
perspectives of health-care professionals, patients and
families to develop protocols that ensure patients have
access to MAID and are supported by the hospital and
the community.
Dr. Wong was born and raised in Winnipeg and earned
his medical degree at the University of Manitoba. He
did his residency in anesthesiology at the University of
Toronto followed by a fellowship in cardiovascular anes-
thesiology and intensive care.
His training and experience in the Cardiac ICU at Sun-
nybrook Health Sciences sparked an interest in system
management, an interest that he brought with him when
he joined Trillium Health Partners as their Medical
Director of Cardiac ICU. His growing understanding of
how decisions made at various hospital levels have a di-
rect impact on patient outcomes led him to take an active
role in hospital affairs by serving on numerous commit-
tees. In his work on these committees, he developed a
reputation as a tireless advocate for patients’ rights and
improved patient safety.
As the chair of the hospital’s Pharmaceuticals and
Therapeutics Committee for the past 10 years, Dr. Wong
has championed the optimal use of medications, and
his focus on patient outcomes was key to the delivery of
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