Local doctor receives Ontario College of Family Physicians' Award of Excellence

NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS
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Three family doctors from the Waterloo-Wellington region have been recognized for their community and medical leadership by the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

Dr. Sharon Bal of Cambridge and Dr. Andrea Chittle of Guelph are each being honoured with a 2021 Award of Excellence. The College of Family Physicians of Canada Awards of Excellence recognize family doctors for exceptional achievement in the specialty of family medicine in the past 24 months. Nominations come from peers or the public to the provincial chapter of which the nominee is a member.

Elora’s Dr. Sarah Gower has been named the 2021 Regional Family Physician of the Year for the region of Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant and Waterloo Wellington. The Award is presented annually to seven Ontario family doctors – one from each region of the province – to recognize exemplary care to patients and contributions to excellence in family medicine.

“Through their leadership and passion for patient care and advocacy, whether it be for women’s health, or advancing health system improvements and equity in medicine, or ensuring quality care for vulnerable populations, Dr. Gower, Dr. Bal, and Dr. Chittle have demonstrated their commitment to enhancing health care in the Waterloo-Wellington Region,” said Dr. Elizabeth Muggah, OCFP President. “These family doctors are highly respected and valued by their colleagues, patients, students and community partners, and I am delighted to acknowledge their outstanding accomplishments.”

Dr. Sharon Bal is no stranger to rolling up her sleeves to make a difference. From the early days of proposal development, Dr. Bal has been actively involved in the design and implementation of the Cambridge North Dumfries Ontario Health Team (OHT). For the past several years, she has been working to engage her physician colleagues and develop strong partnerships across various sectors to promote the importance of creating one seamless, integrated healthcare team to improve community care. In the year leading up to the creation of the OHT, Dr. Bal rallied colleagues to implement best practices and support surge planning – all to establish a more responsive primary care system. Her strong person-centered, team approach has made her a trusted leader in Waterloo-Wellington’s evolving system.

Dr. Bal was tapped by Ontario Health to oversee the local COVID-19 response in long-term care and retirement homes. She has fearlessly entered facilities considered destabilized and unsafe, as needed to assess residents and help ensure their clinical needs could be met – no doubt making a difference to outcomes in these homes and saving lives. As the primary care contact for the region’s COVID-19 response, Dr. Bal has advocated for primary care involvement in testing and vaccination. She also ensured populations with the greatest vulnerabilities were not overlooked, working to support Indigenous community-led efforts around testing and vaccines, as well as collaborating with outreach workers to support local shelters, including during outbreaks.

A passionate advocate for accessibility to quality care for vulnerable populations, Dr. Bal also works to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in medicine. As co-chair of OMA Women, gender pay gap, ally-ship, women in leadership and mentoring of early-career women physicians are among the topics addressed in committee outreach and programs.

“As we speak about how to improve care, Dr. Bal’s passion makes it real,” said Patrick Gaskin,

President & CEO, Cambridge Memorial Hospital. “She speaks of her patients’ experiences and how we, by working together, can improve them. Her energy, enthusiasm and commitment will be one of the driving forces for the incredible work our Ontario Health Team will continue to do.

The Ontario College of Family Physicians represents more than 15,000 family physicians across the province. We support our members by providing evidence-based education and professional development, promoting and recognizing leadership excellence in family medicine, and advocating for the vital role family physicians play in delivering the highest-quality care to patients and families across Ontario.

The Awards were presented virtually at the OCFP Awards Ceremony on Nov. 10, 2021. A list of all awardees is posted on the OCFP’s website.

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