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Council Announcements
Important Legislation – Bill 171
Changing Addresses on College Register
Administering Substances by Injection
2006 Annual Report Available Online
Suspended Members
CIHI Data Collection
HPRAC and Patient Relations
Discipline Hearing Decision
Professional Development Fund Update
Council Announcements
The College is pleased to announce the results of recent elections for Council in Districts 1, 4, 7 and 8 for 2007.
| District #1 – |
Radiography |
Acclamation |
Mary Ann Ginty |
| District #4 – |
Radiography |
Acclamation |
Bronwen Baylis |
| District #7 – |
Faculty |
Acclamation |
Janet K. Scherer |
| District #8 – |
Magnetic Resonance |
Elected |
Caron Murray |
The three year terms for these Council members started at the Council meeting held on July 13, 2007.
In addition, Tarlok Singh was re-appointed a public member of Council until September 2010, and Tony Carroll was appointed as a new public member of Council, until May 2010.
David Price has been re-elected president and Tammy Urso vice president, both for a one-year term.
Important Legislation – Bill 171
The Health System Improvements Act, 2007 received Royal Assent on June 4, 2007. Schedule M of the Act amends the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) and the Health Professions Procedural Code (Code). Most of the provisions of Schedule M are expected to come into force in June 2009.
Among other changes, the Act intends to create a more efficient complaints and mandatory reporting process. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care states that the Act also intends to increase the “transparency of health regulatory colleges by requiring them to post information on their web sites such as:
- findings of malpractice and professional negligence against regulated health care professionals;
- findings of professional misconduct related to offences committed by regulated health care professionals where they were found guilty (e.g., criminal offences); and
- enhanced summaries of discipline decisions about regulated health care professionals."
For some colleges which manage a significant number of complaints and mandatory reports, the Act does create a more efficient process. However, even those colleges, such as CMRTO, which have historically had a smaller number of complaints, will have to change statutory committee composition and operational procedures to meet the requirements of the Act. Among other changes, the College will have to amend its by-laws and re-publish a number of publications which describe its complaints, discipline and mandatory reporting process in order to conform to the Act.
Changing Addresses on College Register
In order to change your home or business address, you can email, fax or mail the changed information to the College, or you can print off and complete the Notice of Change of Register Information form.
Please take note that you are required to notify the College of any change in business address, business telephone number, home address, home telephone number or mailing address within seven days of the change.
Administering Substances by Injection
As a reminder, one of the policies approved by the College Council clarifies the controlled act authorized to MRTs of administering substances by injection.
Under the Medical Radiation Technology Act, 1991, MRTs are authorized to perform specific controlled acts on patients. Controlled acts are those that are potentially harmful to a patient if performed by unqualified people. The controlled acts authorized to MRTs are the following:
- Taking blood samples from veins
- Administering substances by injection or inhalation
- Administering contrast media through or into the rectum or an artificial opening into the body
- Tattooing
It is the position of the College that in the practice of the profession administering a substance by injection includes the following:
- performing an intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular injection
- starting an intravenous line for the purpose of injecting substances
and is one of the authorized acts of an MRT which can be performed in the course of engaging in the practice of medical radiation technology provided that the procedure has been ordered by a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. It is also important to keep in mind that before performing an authorized act, an MRT must be competent to perform the authorized act in light of the circumstances in the situation in which the procedure is to be performed.
2006 Annual Report Available Online
The College’s 2006 annual report is now available for download.
Suspended Members
The following are the people whose certificates of registration were suspended between April 6, 2007 and July 31, 2007 for failure to pay their fees in accordance with section 24 of the Health Professions Procedural Code. A person whose certificate of registration has been suspended is not a member of the College unless and until the suspension is removed.
| 04337 |
Boa, Cheryl A. |
| 04808 |
Witt, Jeanne C. |
| 06074 |
Sewlochan, Bonnie L. |
| 08946 |
Munro, R. Michael |
| 09397 |
Pecorari, Allison |
| 11991 |
Izatt, Michelle Dawn |
| 12168 |
Sampson, Khrista Dawne |
| 12233 |
Zandstra, Rosalee N. |
| 12694 |
Baerg, Colleen Samantha |
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CIHI Data Collection
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) collects information on health care professionals in Canada. Because of a perceived gap in standardized national data for health professions other than physicians and nurses, CIHI is undertaking a national Health Human Resources Development Project which will include medical radiation technologists (and four other professions).
The College has been actively participating in a steering group with CIHI as it develops this new national database for our profession. Data collection will be carried out for Ontario MRTs by the College, who will draw on CIHI for assistance in developing the data collection forms. Data collection is planned to begin in 2008 and further information will be provided as we get closer to the launch date.
It should be stressed that CIHI’s reputation in Canada and internationally is built in part on its ability to gather key data without sacrificing privacy, confidentiality and data quality.
HPRAC and Patient Relations
The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC) released a draft statement in June on its expectation with respect to College patient relations programs and evaluation tools for monitoring these programs.
HPRAC identifies the goals of patient relations programs as helping:
- professionals to better serve their patients, and by extension, the public;
- the public achieve greater understanding of the professional services it is receiving;
- the public understand the rights it has in dealing with members of the profession; and
- the public increase its knowledge of the role of the regulatory college and how to participate in college processes.
HPRAC suggests that this can be accomplished through the college providing written materials, web site postings, advertising and public affairs announcements, for example. Group discussions about its full Patient Relations Overview Statement – in which the College participated – were completed at the end of July.
It is significant to note that at a recent HPRAC workshop on patient relations programs, the College was singled out for the quality of its web site in providing clear and transparent information for the public and members about College processes.
Discipline Hearing Decision
On April 11, 2007 a discipline hearing was held to consider allegations of professional misconduct brought against Harold R. Roos. It was alleged that on October 7, 2004, Mr. Roos:
- accessed the personal information of a patient from the records of the facility at which he was working, for purposes not related to the treatment or care of the patient; and,
- provided medical advice to a patient.
Mr. Roos admitted his guilt with respect to these allegations of professional misconduct and acknowledged that it was an error for him to contact the patient and provide medical advice. The panel of the Discipline Committee found him guilty of professional misconduct. The panel ordered that Mr. Roos be reprimanded and that the reprimand be noted in the register of the College. The panel also ordered that the findings of the discipline hearing appear in the register for a period of one year.
In reaching its decision regarding the appropriate penalty, the panel considered the seriousness of the offence while recognizing a number of mitigating factors including Mr. Roos’ remorse and acknowledgement of responsibility for the conduct as well as the fact that he was suspended by his employer for a period of 1-2 weeks as a result of the incident.
The panel was also influenced by the fact that the patient was satisfied with the way in which the situation was dealt with by the employer and did not pursue the matter further with the College. The panel also took into account the fact that at the time of the incident Mr. Roos had returned to practice after a lengthy absence and that he has since taken a course related to appropriate patient/professional boundaries. Finally, the panel acknowledged the considerable length of time it has taken for this matter to come before the Discipline Committee, and the impacts that this has had on Mr. Roos.
Professional Development Fund Update
The Allied Health Professional Development Fund (AHPDF) reimbursement program for professional development activities will be offered for a second year. According to the AHPDF, "The guidelines and application form for the 2007-2008 funding cycle are being developed" and will be available shortly on the fund’s web site at www.ahpdf.ca. The College will send the application form to members directly by mail when it is available. In the mean time, the AHPDF and the College are encouraging members who will be applying for reimbursement to hold on to their documents such as proof of payment and proof of completion until the new application form is available.
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