A Defining Moment for Our Profession: If We’re Not at the Table, We’re on the Menu
As I step into the role of President of the TCMO, I want to begin by recognizing the leadership of Heather Kenny and the impact she has had on this organization over the last six years.
Heather’s work has helped strengthen our voice, build key relationships, and move forward critical conversations that affect every practitioner in Ontario. Because of her leadership, we are not starting from the beginning. We are stepping forward from a stronger position.
And that matters, because the reality is this:
Our profession is at a defining moment.
Decisions about healthcare access, integration, and scope are actively being shaped. If we are not present in those conversations, others will decide how Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture are understood, regulated, and utilized within the system.
Please know that this isn’t just theoretical, it’s happening right in front of our eyes.
The role of the TCMO is to ensure that our profession is not only included, but represented accurately, credibly, and with the strength it deserves.
Over the coming year, our focus is clear and deliberate.
We are strengthening the value of membership by delivering practical resources that support you in building a successful, sustainable practice.
We are advancing advocacy efforts at the policy level, ensuring that our scope, training, and clinical value are recognized within Ontario’s evolving healthcare system.
And we are elevating the visibility of our profession so that patients, policymakers, and other healthcare providers clearly understand the role we play in addressing chronic and complex conditions. These are often areas where conventional care is essential, yet frequently focused on symptom management. This is where Traditional Chinese Medicine offers a valuable complement, with an approach that supports function, resilience, and long-term healthspan.
This shift is already taking place within the broader healthcare system.
The Alliance for Healthier Communities is a provincial network of community-governed primary care organizations, including Community Health Centres, that serve some of Ontario’s most underserved and complex patient populations. Their work focuses on advancing team-based care, improving health equity, and increasing attachment to primary care across the province.
Each year, the Alliance brings together healthcare leaders, policymakers, and frontline providers for its annual conference. This year’s theme, Attachment for Everyone: Centring Health Equity in Ontario’s Primary Health Care Expansion, focuses on how to better connect patients, particularly those with complex needs, to consistent, team-based care.
At this year’s conference in June, the TCMO will be presenting a poster on the integration of community acupuncture within a primary care setting, with a focus on chronic pain and mental health. This work highlights how acupuncture can be delivered in a low-barrier, high-impact model that supports both physical and psychological health, while improving patient attachment and continuity of care.
One such program, now operating within a Toronto primary care office since this January, is helping a high volume of chronic pain patients access care in a way that is both effective and scalable, with no out-of-pocket cost to patients, removing one of the most significant barriers to care.
Importantly, this did not happen in isolation. As an association, we have consistently encouraged our members to build referral relationships with medical doctors and to actively pursue opportunities for integration within existing healthcare settings. This program is a direct result of that approach in action.
This is what progress looks like; implementation at the clinical and system level. And it is not optional if we want a future where our profession is respected, integrated, and thriving.
It is important that members see real value in their membership. But the strength of this organization goes beyond individual benefit. It depends on collective participation in shaping the future of our field.
If you are already a member, I encourage you to engage more deeply. Your voice and involvement matter. We want to hear from you.
If you are not yet a member, I invite you to take a closer look at what we are building. This is an organization focused on impact, advocacy, and support for practitioners.
As we build on the progress already made, the next phase will require more active participation from all of us. My commitment is to lead with strategic focus and action.
The opportunity in front of us is significant. What we build next will depend on how we choose to show up.
I look forward to building it together.
Katrina Dollano, R.Ac, R.TCMP
President, TCMO
