Dr. Elaine Ma Court Appearance

Chair’s Letter - Dr. Elaine Ma Court Appearance

Dear SGFP Members:

I write you today with a special letter of support on behalf of SGFP for Dr. Elaine Ma. You may recall media coverage of Dr. Ma’s case over the past several years. She is a Family Doctor and SGFP member based in Kingston, where I live also.

During the height of the Covid pandemic when Ontario was besieged with the Delta and Omicron strains of the virus and vaccines had become available, Dr. Ma coordinated a herculean vaccination effort, organizing and managing a series of pop-up vaccination clinics where an estimated 35,000 people were vaccinated over several months.

At the time, politicians of all stripes said what they wanted was “shots in arms.” Public messaging from government, public health, and the Premier’s own Covid task force was clear: move fast, be creative, get people vaccinated. Many doctors stepped up because it was the right thing to do. Kingston had some of the lowest rates of Covid and highest rates of vaccination in all of Ontario. Much of this can be attributed to Dr. Ma’s clinics. It is not a stretch to say that she saved lives.

Years later, OHIP audited the billings for those clinics and determined that Dr. Ma would have to repay over $600,000, all the money that had been billed for the clinics, plus interest. Currently her wages are being garnished to this end.

On Tuesday, December 2, Dr. Ma will be before the Ontario Divisional Court for a Judicial Review of the decision requiring her to pay back the $600,000. We wish her all the best in this effort and add that she should be celebrated for the quick thinking, innovative approach to public health that she took when circumstances required it, rather than punished for doing so.

Warm Regards,

Dr. Dave Barber

Chair, SGFP

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