Manitoba's Dr. Joss Reimer elected to become next head of Canadian Medical Association

Dr. Joss Reimer, the chief medical officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and a physician who became a familiar face to Manitobans during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been voted president-elect by the Canadian Medical Association.

Reimer said in a tweet Thursday she is "humbled, honoured, and thankful" to be voted the president-elect nominee for the physicians' association, which advocates on health issues.

The presidency of the association rotates through provinces and territories, a Thursday news release from the CMA said.

Reimer, who won the president-elect nomination over three other candidates in a vote that took place between Feb. 22 and March 8, thanked Manitoba doctors in her tweet for voting for her, adding that she "can't wait to work advocating for positive changes to our health systems."

She will serve as president-elect on Aug. 16 to May 2024, when she will become president of the association, pending ratification at the association's next association annual general meeting.

Before she took on her current role with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority last April, Reimer worked for 16 months as the medical lead of Manitoba's COVID-19 vaccination task force. 

In that role, she became well-known to many people in the province through regular COVID-19 briefings and news conferences.

"I saw this as an opportunity to take a lot of the lessons and skills that I learned during the pandemic around talking to the public and talking to politicians and combine that with my experience …and try to push for positive changes in the health-care system," Reimer told CBC Manitoba on Friday.

She said the main issue she's heard about from health-care providers is burnout, which she's been told is at a high.

"So I really want to spend my presidency pushing for changes that support our health-care workers to be able to do their jobs well," she said.

Reimer, who trained in obstetrics and gynecology before completing a public health specialty, has been "a strong advocate for physician wellness, calling the stress, declining mental health and burnout in the workforce a public health crisis," the Canadian Medical Association said in its Thursday news release.