Your 2023 CCO Council Candidates for District 6: Western
— Townhall Q&As and Additional Details —
Dr. Michelle Campbell
Dr. Michelle Campbell
1. If you were elected to CCO Council, what in your opinion is the most effective way to maintain and build public trust in the profession?
The most effective way to maintain and build public trust is to combat the risks facing our profession and the public perception of Chiropractic. The first is Brand Risk, which has been a risk related to the overall industry of Chiropractic for many years. This risk is not individualized to any individual practice but directly related to our industry. Many myths about our profession stem from poor communication on the Chiropractor’s part, using poor business tactics, outdated information or inappropriate advertising strategies. An effective way is to mitigate this risk by continually improving our communication skills with the public and the CCO members to ensure competent communication. CCO also provides current regulations and standards to ensure our members have the most up-to-date information. The members can then increase our collective industry brand by levelling all of our individual members’ brands. Trust is also achieved when we can be transparent, open, honest, and work toward continual improvement.
The second risk facing the public trust is Regulation and Compliance Risk, which is a risk that all regulated professionals face. The primary mitigation for this risk is to keep excellent patient and business records. The CCO continuously works with its members to ensure they know the regulations and standards correctly. The regulatory record-keeping workshop is a perfect opportunity for the CCO to meet with its members. I propose including case-based studies in this workshop to further apply members’ understanding, which will help with outcomes and overall public trust.
2. What have you learned from the COVID-19 global pandemic that should inform CCO’s role?
The most significant takeaway from COVID-19 is to be prepared for the unexpected. Assessing a situation with an open mind, being able to pivot, and adaptability are essential. CCO can look into playing out risk assessment scenarios, where they can consider different potentials in the future and how they would respond. This action would allow them to take a preventative approach, which is superior to a reactive approach.
Another consideration is for CCO to communicate with its members how to understand better the Ministry of Health directives and the why behind them. People understand rules and regulations more when they know where they are coming from and why it should matter to them. More transparency on this could be helpful for members. During my experience as a peer assessor, members expressed that they needed clarification about the CCO and the Ministry of Health’s directions and which they were to follow. They also needed to figure out when to report MOH concerns and who to report to. More clarity in this regard would be helpful for many members.
3. What do you think is the top opportunity and the top challenge facing CCO Council members in the next two years?
CCO’s mandate is to protect the public interest. There are opportunities to work with other regulated professionals and collaboratively and collectively raise the standard of Ontarians’ regulated health care. This collaboration would be an area I would be very excited to be a part of, so we can build bridges and rise together. The council has many opportunities to continue serving the public at an even higher level. I am excited to use my skills as a Chiropractor, business owner, entrepreneur and executive MBA to assist in this mission. My experience as an operationally based business owner with my EMBA will help me to thrive in policy-making to meet the Guidelines and best practices for the regulatory college.
Challenges are inevitable. There is a potential change with governance reform which would change the current outlook of the CCO council, which will undoubtedly create challenges. We are coming into a time of economic uncertainty, and there will be challenges for all businesses and organizations. We can meet and rise above challenges with open-minded and transparent communications. It is not how we act during the good times but how we handle ourselves during challenging times. I like to view all sides of a situation before concluding an opinion, which is vital during challenges.
Dr. Colin Goudreau
Dr. Colin Goudreau
1. If you were elected to CCO Council, what in your opinion is the most effective way to maintain and build public trust in the profession?
I think the best way to build public trust, and maintain it effectively, is through open communication. Professional members of the CCO receive an Annual Report, emails from the President, and emails requesting feedback when council is looking at modifying policies, bylaws and standards. From the public’s perspective to my knowledge, the website provides information as well as the publicly appointed Council members. Having regular communication with the public at large would help build and maintain public trust. Their confidence would improve when hearing firsthand, from an outward facing communication process, about what the College is doing to help protect their interest and in helping them gain access to competent ethical, and patient-centered chiropractic care.
I am also a big proponent of transparency in discussions, conversations, and decision making. As transparency is one of the six values of the CCO, I feel that it has a trickle-down positive effect on all involved. When the CCO is transparent in its processes, the public interest is protected, and that helps to build public trust. When the public interest is protected, the profession is seen as a valuable part of health care in Ontario. That also helps the profession gain credibility while building public trust and confidence.
If I were re-elected, I would continue to push for all decision-making processes to have open communication and transparency. This would give insight as to what work is being done on Council and the various committees at the CCO.
2. What have you learned from the COVID-19 global pandemic that you think should inform CCO’s role?
I think when the pandemic hit, all regulated health care professions, and most industries in general, needed to lean on the Ministry of Health, to guide us to follow public health priorities, and follow their guidance and directives. With things happening so rapidly, I applaud the CCO for being nimble and adaptive to ensure the profession was informed about what needed to be done in our offices to ensure we were protecting the public and the patients we treat.
The CCO then commissioned a report developed by the University of Toronto’s Accessing Centre for Expertise (ACE), titled Context Covid: Understanding the Evidence, Policy and Regulatory Implications of the Relationship between Chiropractic and Immunity. This allowed us as a Council to examine how our standards, policies, and guidelines can be updated or modified to ensure that the college is protecting the public interest, using an evidence-informed approach. Using the pandemic should enhance the CCO’s role on how our profession can navigate this topic, stay within our scope of practice, and protect the public interest all at the same time. With years of prior committee work, in addition to the most recent three years of experience as an elected council member, I have a thorough understanding of policies and procedures of council. This knowledge would inform CCO in fulfilling its role in protecting the public interest, while navigating new and emerging public health concerns that may impact our offices.
3. What do you think is the top opportunity and the top challenge facing CCO Council members in the next two years?
I think the top challenge for CCO Council is to stay on top of, and successfully navigate, the College Performance Measurement Framework (CPMF). All health regulatory colleges need to submit to the Ministry of Health about their compliance on a number of benchmarks. I think that there have been several best practices that other health regulatory colleges have shown to have done through their CPMF submissions, that could be considered at the CCO. Being proactive to the framework is more beneficial than being reactive to it. In 2023, we continue to have professional council member elections, where some other health regulatory colleges have transitioned into competency-based appointments. It would be a large undertaking, but would create not just geographical diversity, but a true professionally diverse group of Council members.
The top opportunity facing CCO Council is through collaboration with stakeholders. With patients who receive exceptional care in offices across Ontario, they can be our biggest voices in health care reform. Patients are looking for alternatives to traditional medical care, and with costs and wait times rising, they are turning to chiropractic care. The CCO can ensure that all Ontarians can seek competent, ethical, patient-centered care. The CCO must maintain its mandate but also be an ally to all other stakeholders in advancing Ontarian’s access to chiropractic care. Hearing how each organization, including the OCA, is engaging the public to help better serve our communities, would increase communication and collaboration, and still keep each organization’s mandate, and roles separate and distinct.