A message from 2024 CPSA Council Chair Dr. Jaelene Mannerfeldt 

Reflecting on a year of progress, achievement and meaningful stories

As we review the past year, I am honoured to introduce CPSA’s 2024 Annual Report. This report highlights our accomplishments and underscores the collective effort, dedication, collaboration and resilience of CPSA’s Council, leadership and team as we work together to ensure safe medical care for Albertans.

Achievements and milestones

Over the past year, Council continued to follow the framework of CPSA’s 2022-26 Strategic Plan. We now have a full complement of Council members at the table, including seven public members and seven physician members, and our strong framework keeps us focused and aligned with our strategic plan. 
In early 2024, we signed our Council Culture Agreement to help guide Council members in working collaboratively and respectfully with each other during conversations about difficult topics. The agreement reminds us all of our mandate to ensure the medical safety of Albertans. A Council Culture Challenge Coin was designed as a tangible reminder to everyone on Council of our responsibility to contribute to a culture of excellence.

Council and CPSA’s team remain committed to building authentic relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples across Alberta. In September, Council was honoured to spend a day at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills, near St. Paul. There, we learned about the history of Blue Quills—which opened as a residential school before becoming the first Indigenous-owned-and-governed educational facility in Canada—and their focus on reclaiming traditional knowledge and practices. CPSA continues to receive ongoing guidance and wisdom from the Indigenous Advisory Circle, who co-developed a high-level, multi-year action plan for CPSA’s Path to Truth and Reconciliation. As Council Chair, it’s been an honour to listen to and learn from members of the Circle, and I am grateful to have seen their guidance reflected in the action plan CPSA will implement in the coming years.

In support of building connections with rural Albertans, in 2024 CPSA attended the Rural Health Professions Action Plan conference and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta conference. The connections we make at these events help CPSA better understand the experiences patients and physicians face in rural Alberta communities. With this better understanding, we remain solutions-focused to ensure Albertans living in rural communities have access to high standards of medical care.

Moving forward

As we look to the future, we will continue to strengthen the foundation of CPSA and build strong relationships with our partners in health care across the province. One initiative that will support CPSA into the future is the transition towards a skills-based nomination of new regulated member-elected Councillors. When we identify a gap in expertise or experience, Council will highlight the areas of need and support bringing individuals to the table who possess the identified skills. The expertise brought by each Council member contributes to informed and productive Council discussions. With diverse expertise and experience at the Council table, we will continue to support physicians and physician assistants who provide much-needed care in their communities.

As the 2024 Council Chair, I would like to express my gratitude to all Council members. I appreciate your dedication and willingness to serve on Council—it has been a privilege to work with each of you.

I also wish to thank CPSA’s leadership and team for working tirelessly to ensure Council initiatives continue to move forward. Throughout the changing landscape in Alberta, everyone has contributed to ensuring that Albertans receive the best possible medical care.

To the regulated members working across the province, I am touched by your dedication to your patients and your communities. Each of you makes a difference every day, in large and small ways. Your efforts are not unnoticed.

The 2024 Annual Report shows the stories behind the statistics. While the numbers presented highlight promising growth in physician numbers and communities served, the stories demonstrate the true impact on Albertans that these numbers represent.

I am pleased to present the 2024 Annual Report, which has been endorsed by Council. It has been an honour to serve as CPSA’s 2024 Council Chair. 

While I know there’s more work to be done, the future is positive for CPSA. Together, we can be there for our communities.

Sincerely,

 Jaelene M. Mannerfeldt

Chair, CPSA Council 2024