Dr. Jose Francois has been named Manitoba’s first provincial chief medical officer, Shared Health announced on Tuesday.
Francois is a family physician from Ste. Anne Manitoba and was named 2024 Physician of the Year by Doctors Manitoba.
He says the biggest issue facing the provincial health-care system right now is access to care and he believes that is where attention needs to be focused.
“Patients looking for a family physician, coming into the emergency department seeking care but having limited access to inpatient services because we don’t have enough nursing staff and, in some cases, physician staff,” he said.
Francois will be responsible for coordinating specialty leaders and regional chief medical officers as well as working to improve recruitment, retention, and contracting physicians.
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He will be starting his new role on April 15 and will work for health regions across the province. Francois says he is no stranger to leadership and has worked for Shared Health for the past decade.
“For the last 10 years I have been the head of the department of family medicine and the specialty leader of family medicine at Shared Health, so really I am transitioning from one leadership role to a new one.”
Shared Health says throughout his career, he has promoted strong roles for family physicians in hospitals and long-term care, led expansions for training, sparked improvements for international medical graduates, and advocated for improved models of care.
He was also instrumental in the development of a bilingual family medicine residency program in Manitoba.
“We cannot wait to see the energy and passion that Jose will bring to this new role, the strategies he will champion and the new ideas he will implement to improve health services for both patients and providers,” said Shared Health CEO Lanette Siragusa.
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