On March 4, 2017 at the Annual Meeting of Members, the ACFP presented the President Installation of Dr. Fred Janke. Below is a transcript of his acceptance speech.
Dear Members,
I would like to thank outgoing president, Dr. Chmelicek for, his leadership over the last two years and the dedication and passion he has brought with his leadership. I have been with the Board for a number of years now and have been a part of the governance change we implemented in the last year to decrease the Board size and bring it from a representative Board to a smaller skills based Board. I provide corporate history and continuity through this change. I thank the dedication and hard work of Terri Potter, the executive director and all of the staff at ACFP. All have worked hard to build the representative voice of family physicians we provide to become an organization that we can all be proud of. In my other life I wear many hats: I am a family doc like all of you and work in the trenches in patient care; I’m part of a progressive patient’s medical home in which we work as a team; I have been an academic physician for fifteen plus years; I have advocated on behalf of rural generalism for just as long. This allows me to bring a very broad perspective to this position.
As we move forward, I would like to highlight the four pillars of the ACFP’s strategic framework and would like to propose that these be the four areas I devote my time and energy toward on behalf of the organization and all of you:
- Ensure that as family physicians, we continue to have access to high quality continuing professional development and best practice resources.
- That we continue to advocate on behalf of family physicians to influence public and health policy that supports excellence in patient care.
- That we as a Board and organization stay connected with you, our membership, and to build on the engagement of Alberta’s family physicians.
- That both public and government grow in the awareness of the value of family physicians, our vision and the concrete leadership we can provide to implement positive change.
My pledge is to work hard to ensure that the ACFP continues to be sought for guiding wisdom and continues to be a voice for family physicians in Alberta.
I cannot do this without you in turn supporting our organization and supplying voice, leadership, and wisdom where and when we need. I cannot do this without the support of our very capable Board and I cannot do this without the tireless efforts of the ACFP staff.
Thank you for honouring me with this position, the Presidency of the ACFP.
Dr. Fred Janke, BSc, MSc, MD, FCFP, FRRMS
President, Alberta College of Family Physicians
acfppres@acfp.ca
Read Full March Newsletter Here.