The Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) Manitoba region is pleased to announce that Dr. Marcia Anderson has been selected as winner of the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration.
In a career spanning two decades, Dr. Anderson has repeatedly distinguished herself through her commitment to continual improvement of health care and her significant actions to promote anti-racism, tackle systemic discrimination, and improve health services for Indigenous people.
As the youngest known Indigenous graduate of the University of Manitoba medical school in 2002, Dr. Anderson immediately put her education to use by taking on leadership roles in which she actively counters systemic racism and contributes new developments in Manitoba’s health care system. At the age of 26, she became the youngest president of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada. She has continued to contribute her unique combination of research and experience through academic publications, community service, and mentorship.
From 2011 to 2016, after becoming head of the Section of First Nations, Inuit and Métis health at the University of Manitoba, she implemented a plan that reduced the physician vacancy rate in Northern Manitoba from 50 percent to 5 percent. In 2017, she worked on a leadership team to develop the Ongomiizwin Indigenous Institute of Health with a mandate to provide leadership
and advanced excellence in research, education, and health services in collaboration with First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities. In 2018, she served as a member of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic provincial clinical team to build Manitoba’s first provincial clinical and preventative services program.
Currently, Dr. Anderson serves as Medical Officer of Health for Indigenous Services Canada (Manitoba Region), Vice Dean of Indigenous Health, Executive Director of Indigenous Academic Affairs, Ongomiizwin at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba. In these roles, she has demonstrated a tireless commitment to truth and reconciliation, and continual improvement of health care. Examples of her dedication are numerous. In 2015, she led a University of Manitoba faculty-wide workshop and the subsequent creation of five working groups to develop the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences Reconciliation Action Plan in response to the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action. She is currently leading the implementation of that Action Plan. She has also continued to lead the development of a “Disruption of All Forms of Racism” policy over several years, which the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences approved for implementation in 2020.
Most recently, Dr. Anderson has become better known to the public through co-leading the Pandemic Response Coordination Team. Her outstanding leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to data-informed decisions for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) that inform not only the current vaccination campaign, but also the future of health care.
IPAC Manitoba congratulates Dr. Anderson on receiving this award. The Lieutenant Governor will host a ceremony at Government House at a later date.
IPAC Manitoba Region 