Robert M. Hollinshead, M.D., FRCSC
President, The Canadian Orthopaedic Association

Dr. William R. J. (Bill) Rennie's Bulletin address one year ago was entitled "The Calm Before the Storm", and this message of mine is, I feel, appropriately entitled "The Calm After the Storm". After a tumultuous beginning following the sudden cancellation of our Annual General Meeting in Toronto this past June, the subsequent Winnipeg meeting, and my travels to England, Australia and New Zealand, I do feel like this truly is "The Calm After the Storm".  

Dr. Robert & Mrs. Susan Hollinshead

As I write this message, I am returning from representing the COA at the Australia and New Zealand orthopaedic meetings. The opportunity to interchange ideas and learn from challenges being faced by our sister associations has helped enhance my understanding of the medical political agenda and how we can move forward in health reform - which ties in with my own thoughts expressed in my presidential address.

Australian Orthopaedic surgeons are facing a medical indemnity (malpractice) crisis and the Australian Federal Minister of Health spent an hour with us at the AOA meeting in Adelaide trying to do damage control with orthopaedic surgeons, many of whom have tendered their resignations from the public system over this issue. Dr. Geoff Horne, the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association President, garnered incredible media attention over issues related to access and quality of care at his meeting in Rotorua. Expanding our advocacy role on behalf of our patients is an area I am interested in as well.

Our COA meeting held in Winnipeg from October 3 - 5, 2003 exceeded expectations in every way. Over 300 delegates registered for this scaled-down scientific meeting. Doctors Barry W. Malcolm and Bill Rennie, as well as Mr. Doug Thomson and our COA staff worked hard under an extremely tight time line to reorganize this excellent meeting. Many registrants commented that the free papers, instructional course lectures, and subspecialty sessions were outstanding. Dr. Emil H. Schemitsch and his programme committee are to be congratulated. A tribute by Dr. Robert Litchfield featuring many of Dr. Alexandra (Sandy) Kirkley's contributions was a highlight of the gala evening entitled "Them Canadian Bones". The silent and live auction at the gala, organized through the hard work of a Toronto committee consisting of Mmes Pat Bent, Nancy Malcolm, Robbin Richards and Marilyn Wright, provided lots of fun, and raised over $30,000 for the Alexandra Kirkley Young Investigator Award. Dr. Paul H. Wright, our incoming COF President, may have missed his calling, as his abilities as an MC and auctioneer were marveled at by the crowd. The evening's format is a fund raising concept that will undoubtedly be revisited at future meetings.

You may remember the Chaoulli/Zeliotis legal case in Quebec to which I referred in the last Bulletin and was summarized so well by Doug Thomson. The COA, in concert with the CMA, has sought intervener status in that case before the Supreme Court of Canada - something that no Canadian specialty society has previously done. This case, which will be heard March 22, 2004, will be of great interest to Canadians and the COA should be front and centre, making the case for timely access to quality care. If the Supreme Court of Canada agrees that this patient's rights have been violated, either a parallel public/private system would evolve, or the federal and provincial governments would need to seriously consider adopting access benchmarks with defined maximum waiting times. On the other hand, if the Supreme Court does not agree his rights were violated, at the very least, specialty access will be back on the radar screen after disappearing post-Romanow. In either case, the public health care debate will be reignited, focusing on both health human resources and physical resources for patient care.

Having been impressed by the quality of the scientific and social programs at the annual scientific meetings of our sister organizations, we are looking forward to hosting everyone at our meeting in Calgary next June. Dr. F. Kelly deSouza and his local arrangements committee are working hard to put on a memorable meeting. Dr. James N. (Jim) Powell, the programme chair, and his committee hope to emulate the success and excellence of past meetings.

I anticipate meeting some of you at regional meetings across Canada and welcome the opportunity to exchange ideas about the role of the COA in health care delivery, as well as to understand ways in which the COA can best meet the needs and expectations of our members.

In the meantime, Susan and I would like to wish you all the happiest of holidays and hope you are able to enjoy a well deserved break from our oftentimes "treadmill existence".