Spring greetings from the College of Physiotherapists of Alberta’s 2022/2023 Council!
At our June 4 meeting, Council welcomed two new Council members - Bobby McGugan and Michael Stewart. Bobby is a St. Albert based physiotherapist with a strong background in business and orthopedic private practice. Michael is also a private practice physiotherapist. He is based in Lethbridge and has served on multiple provincial and national committees. Our two new members will be joining elected members Jacky Chow (Calgary), William Tung (Edmonton), Melissa Merritt (Calgary), and Grant Fedoruk (Edmonton) along with our public members Dennis Horrigan and Sharon Sproule.
Our third public member, Cindy Park, resigned in January and while we were sad to see her go, we are grateful for her time and perspective on many projects including strategic planning, development of procedures relating to the clinical competency examination, and our mandated separation of association functions. We are also saying good-bye to Amarjit Mann who has brought her calm demeanor and well-grounded perspective to all Council meetings and projects over the past three years.
I, too, am departing from Council this year after six years of service. I held a position as Council member for my first term of three years and stepped into the Council President role for the past three years. Historically, the Council President has joined the Registrar in representing the organization at various provincial, national and international meetings and conferences. My term, however, started just before the COVID-19 pandemic began and we soon found ourselves pivoting to online meetings, interpreting and responding to public health orders, and responding to the upheaval caused by the cancellation of the clinical component of the Physiotherapy Competency Exam for our provisional registrants. In the past year, we also supported the creation of the new provincial physiotherapy association - the Alberta Association of Physiotherapy (https://www.albertaphysio.com), completed divesting ourselves from association duties, and crafted a new vision, mission and strategic plan for our newly minted organization.
My experiences in the past six years have been both challenging and highly rewarding. I will miss interacting with the supportive staff, the dynamic Council, and our passionate professional regulated members. I am extremely grateful to you all. Finally, I encourage all of my physiotherapy colleagues to consider stepping up to participate in Council committees and projects as opportunities arise. As physiotherapists, we can be proud to be regulated professionals and together we can help deliver safe, effective and quality physiotherapy for all Albertans!
Karin Eldred, Outgoing Council President
