I’m Kate Dewhirst.

My team and I write about legal issues affecting healthcare in Canada.

Kate Dewhirst Health Law - bringing the law to life. Meet Kate (in 13 seconds)

Category: Credentialing


Updates to the Professional Staff Credentialing Toolkit

Posted by

In September 2021, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) release the second edition of its Professional Staff Credentialing Toolkit. There were 8 main updates: Changes to the Public Hospitals Act (“PHA”) The toolkit reflects the requirements of section 33 (mandatory reporting of physicians to the CPSO – see pages 43, 84, 95) and section 44 (ceasing… Read more »


Summary of Updates to the OMA/OHA Hospital Prototype for Board-Appointed Professional Staff By-Laws

Posted by

In September 2021, the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and Ontario Hospitals Association (OHA) released an updated version of their Prototype Board-Appointed Professional Staff Bylaws. Among the revisions are changes to the bylaw’s language and tone, updates regarding the requirements of medical leadership and updated obligations for professional staff with respect to disclosure and notice obligations…. Read more »


The crisis phase is over – the emergency continues – how should health leaders move forward?

Posted by

I have noticed over the last month that the tone of conversations has changed and social critique has resurfaced. Individuals are rightly asking more questions. There is greater need in all aspects of life and public service for clarity and certainty.  There are more queries and complaints about the impact of decisions made in the… Read more »


COVID-19: Professional Staff Credentialing Considerations for Ontario Hospitals

Posted by

The Public Hospitals Act deals with the relationship between hospitals and their Professional Staff members (physicians, dentists, midwives and some nurse practitioners). In a pandemic, pull out your Professional Staff By-laws and look for provisions dealing with temporary appointments to the Professional Staff to deal with an emergency. The concept of temporary appointments should be… Read more »


Key issues hospitals need to manage when recruiting non-licensed MDs to non-medical positions

Posted by

Not everyone who trains as a physician practices medicine or continues to practice medicine. Some choose to work in a hospital environment but not as a physician such as in administration, research, information technology, finance, risk, law, policy, public relations, or interdisciplinary professional practice. Medical training can be an enormous advantage for a candidate applying… Read more »


What do medical affairs leaders in hospitals do?

Posted by

One of my favourite activities is working with medical affairs leaders in hospitals managing complaints and concerns about physicians.  But when I tell people about that work – I get a few quizzical looks. Medical affairs? What is that? The public knows very little about the tangled web relationship between hospitals and physicians and their… Read more »



Professional Staff Leaves of Absence – is your hospital prepared?

Posted by

Does your hospital explain to your Professional Staff members the rules about taking a leave of absence? Remember: Professional Staff members may include doctors, dentists, midwives and independent contractor nurse practitioners. Since members of the Professional Staff are usually independent contractors and not employees of a hospital, they independently arrange for their colleagues to cover… Read more »


Professional Staff succession planning – does your hospital have a plan?

Posted by

Professional Staff in hospitals are doctors, dentists, midwives and privileged staff nurse practitioners. Does your hospital have a plan to deal with Professional Staff retirements, departures and recruitment? Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? You are worried about a future brain drain – when you look into the future, you can see the possibly of… Read more »


Have you looked at your hospital’s Professional Staff Rules and Regulations lately?

Posted by

Back in the 1980s and 90s, many hospitals published Medical Staff “Rules and Regulations”. And in some cases, that package then went dormant as hospital-wide policies and procedures were introduced. Have a look on your intranet. Do you have Rules and Regulations that are still on the books but have not been updated in awhile?… Read more »


Some of Kate’s recent and upcoming events

Free healthcare privacy webinar - ask me anything!
the first Wednesday of every month

Free webinars - advance registration needed

Whether you're an experienced privacy officer or new in the field, pick Kate’s brain for free for an hour, in this live webinar. No charge, but you’ll need to register in advance.

Health Privacy Officer Foundations training
starts March 2024

For Privacy Officers within healthcare organizations.

This course focuses on how to become a more confident privacy officer and gives you the tools to document your privacy program. Full details and registration here...

Join the Shush: a collective of health privacy officers
Annual membership 2024

For Privacy Officers within healthcare organizations

This is an annual membership program that takes theory into practice and tackles real life scenarios to build Privacy Officer skills.
Full details and registration here.

Primary care webinars: Employment Law Update & Legal Issues for EDs and Board members

Part of Kate’s monthly webinar series.

Our 2024 program is now live.
Full details of the 2024 webinar series and registration here.

Mental Health webinars: Legal issues for mental health and addictions agencies and teams
Annual membership 2024

For managers and other leaders from mental health and addictions agencies, hospitals, CMHAs, CHCs, school boards, FHTs and Indigenous health services

This is an annual membership program with monthly webinars.
Full details and registration here.

Team Privacy Training Events

For Primary Care clinics, Hospitals, Community Agencies, Mental Health Teams, Public Health Units, School Boards, Police departments

Scheduled to your team's needs for comprehensive or refresher training More details...

Free summary of all PHIPA IPC decisions

Want to read privacy breach stories to learn how to improve your work? We have summarized all the Information and Privacy Commissioner's health privacy decisions for you Download here...

Kate Dewhirst Health Law

Kate says:

My mission is bringing the law to life. I make legal theory understandable, accessible and fun! I’m available and love to work for all organizations in the healthcare sector across Ontario and beyond.

Subscribe to my mailing list and keep up to date with news:

Latest Tweets

  • Our twitter feed is unavailable right now. Follow us on Twitter
  • contact details

    P.O. Box 13024, RPO Bradford Centre
    Bradford, ON, L3Z 2Y5

    (416) 855 9557

    .