Dr. Cindy Forbes voted Nova Scotia CMA President-elect nominee

DARTMOUTH, NS – Nova Scotia family doctor Cindy Forbes has been nominated as the 2014-2015 Canadian Medical Association (CMA) president-elect.

Pending CMA General Council ratification, the Nova Scotia nominee would become CMA president-elect, and then assume the office of CMA president at the 2015 CMA annual meeting, to be held Aug. 23-26, 2015 in Halifax. 

Dr. Forbes is a family doctor in Fall River where she’s practised for more than 25 years. Dr. Forbes is a Past-President of Doctors Nova Scotia and has chaired the CMA’s Council on Health Care and Promotion for four years. A former member of the CMA’s Political Action Committee, she’s currently a member of the Doctors Nova Scotia’s Master Agreement Negotiations Steering Committee. 

In a province-wide election to determine the nominee, Dr. Forbes received the majority of the votes over the other two candidates – also family physicians – Drs. Cathy Felderhof and Maria Alexiadis. 

Voting ran from Jan. 22 to Feb. 26. Results were announced Feb. 27. Voting was open to Doctors Nova Scotia members who are also members of the CMA. There were 857 votes cast.

In her ‘letter of intent’ to potential voters in January, Dr. Forbes outlined many challenges facing residents and practising physicians, from unacceptable wait times to job stress, physician stress and poor work-life balance, and concerns about employment opportunities and increasing student debt for residents and medical students. 

“My goal as president is to identify and promote innovative solutions and positive change for health-care in my province and in our country,” said Dr. Forbes. “I will ensure that Nova Scotia physicians, residents, and students’ views are heard, and that the CMA focuses on issues that matter most to the members it represents,” she said.

As the successful nominee for CMA president-elect 2014-15, Dr. Forbes will be presented to the CMA’s General Council for confirmation in Ottawa during its annual general meeting in August. If confirmed by General Council in August she will serve as president-elect until August 2015, when she will assume the presidency during the CMA’s 148th annual meeting in Halifax.

Every year, the CMA president-elect is nominated in a different part of the country based on a pre-determined rotation cycle involving the 12 provincial/territorial medical associations that form the CMA. 

More information can be found online at www.cma.ca

Doctors Nova Scotia is the professional association representing all doctors in the province. It is the oldest medical association in Canada. The association represents about 2,500 physicians serving patients across the province, and 700 medical students and residents.