Making waves

River East

Charleswood

A family doctor from northeast Winnipeg has been recognized for her exceptional work.

Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk provides care in clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes in northeast Winnipeg. On Nov. 7, she was presented with the Reg L. Perkin Award for Family Physician of the Year – Manitoba by the College of Family Physicians of Canadaat an awards banquet in Winnipeg. The award has been given by the CFPC since 1972, initially as a single, country-wide award. Since 2002, it has been given to one recipient from each of the 10 CFPC chapters, including Manitoba.

“I’m not a spotlight person, but to me, I am just immensely grateful,” Mihalchuk said.

“To be honest, it felt uncomfortable, because I know that I do so many things. Family medicine is my core, it’s embedded in the way I do everything. But I don’t do it all the time. But when it came to the event and I was able to see so many people and heard from colleagues (that) this is a way for the profession to say thank you, that really resonated for the first time. I don’t do this for that, but my heart felt pretty full to know people feel that way. They notice that I’ve tried for years to advance health care.”

Born and raised in Charleswood, Mihalchuk graduated from École secondaire Oak Park High School before pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of Winnipeg and going on to med school at the University of Manitoba.

“My first daughter was born at the end of my first year of medical school and my second at end of residency, so 2003 and 2008,” said the 48-year-old. “I only ever knew medicine as a parent and new parent. One reason I went into family medicine was I needed some autonomy.”

Mihalchuk began her family practice at Access River East in 2009, while also working at nearby Concordia Hospital. She knew she wanted to focus on family practice but also to work in a leadership role.

“I was bed doctor (at Concordia), department head of family medicine,” she said. “I had a young family, was practising three days a week, and filled the rest of my time with my admin roles.”

In 2013, she was named chief medical officer at Concordia. She went on to become the assistant chief medical officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority in 2017, then become the WHRA’s first female CMO in 2019. After a few years, the workload and toll on her family had Mihalchuk looking to make a change.

“Having a young family coming of age, I wasn’t around enough, so I needed to balance — the story of my life is trying to be everything to everyone all the time — so after making it to the top of the pile, I decided to rethink that and try something new and got into regulation,” she said.

While Mihalchuk still maintains her local practice at Access River East — “I’m very lucky to have a wonderful group of patients,” she said — she has been the registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba since July 2024. She was also recently appointed a director of the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities, and serves as a member-at-large of the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada Governance Committeem and as a member of the Medical Council of Canada.

“I have my heart set on regulation, I think it has a really important place in improving care in Manitoba,” Mihalchuk said. “There is accountability and responsibility that comes with that. It really resonates with who I am.”

Mihalchuk hopes, if nothing else, the recent award and attention she has received will highlight the current work she is doing.

“When needs aren’t met, things escalate quickly. So focusing on the people who reach out to us have needs to be met, and it’s up to us to meet those needs,” she said. “Small acts of change create big waves of change. Credibility and authenticity matter to me, so I try to be that leader. To me there’s humility in that. I’m not perfect, I’m a work in progress, as we all are. That’s the energy I bring.”