Dr. Kristianna Martiniuk wears a lot of hats. In addition to serving as an Oakville-based physician, she stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to boost collaboration and communication among Halton physicians and, as a result, improved patient care. To recognize her professional and community efforts, Dr. Martiniuk received an Award of Excellence for all she has contributed to her field. And she’s not done yet.
Dr. Martiniuk was recognized this month by the Ontario College of Family Physicians, receiving an Award of Excellence alongside fellow Halton physician Dr. Jennifer Kwan from Burlington. For more than 25 years, Dr. Martiniuk has provided care to Oakville patients, from starting out in obstetrics to now working in Oak Park’s Sheddon Medical—where she sees patients as well as teaches residents—while helping to implement several priority initiatives and continuing her work in palliative care, mental health, and community care.
“This is important work and it was appreciated that I took it on,” Dr. Martiniuk says about receiving the recognition. “I feel quite humbled.”
Dr. Martiniuk has taken on many roles that have helped shape integrated healthcare in Halton Region and Ontario. In 2017, she became co-chair of the Primary Care Network, later stepping down in 2019 to focus on her work on the Connected Care Halton Ontario Health Team.
“Dr. Martiniuk has played a pivotal role in empowering primary care, promoting physician engagement and building a sense of community among healthcare providers to improve care in Halton Region,” says Denise Hardenne, president and CEO of Halton Healthcare. “It is a testament to her commitment and ongoing dedication that she has been able to maintain momentum in this work despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
One of her proudest achievements is founding the Halton Physician Association (HPA) in July 2021. Dr. Martiniuk worked tirelessly to form this group, something she describes as an entity that is both separate from the Ontario Health Team (OHT) but does work closely with OHT. Representatives from each community in Halton (Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hills) have joined the HPA with the goal of providing better, more integrated care for Halton patients.
“It was a way of strengthening ties in our community and people coming together to see how we can make things better,” Dr. Martiniuk says. “Networking has been made possible in part of bringing physicians together under HPA and under the larger umbrella of OHT. OHT now has funding to run new, different programs that can improve patient care. Now HPA can spread the word.”
Another noteworthy contribution by Dr. Martiniuk to the Halton medical community came in April 2020. When COVID-19 was spreading as quickly as uncertainty, she saw an immediate need for clear communication and collaboration among physicians across Halton. She started a WhatsApp group where physicians (along with other healthcare professionals, like specialists and allergists) could share updates and information about the growing crisis.
To this day, physicians continue to use this WhatsApp group as an effective communication tool. Dr. Martiniuk says it has helped replace the corridor chat among healthcare professionals lost during the pandemic.
When reflecting on the impact of COVID-19, Dr. Martiniuk says the biggest lesson learned is the importance of collaboration and communication across the healthcare system.
“We have to work together. If we don’t have channels of communicating, it can slow down the process. We have to coordinate things and work together in a bigger way in the healthcare system than we usually do,” Dr. Martiniuk says. “When there’s a crisis, we need to have a mechanism to work together and there needs to be a mandate. We were working in silos before, so integrating all these groups was critical. There’s still more work to be done so we don’t have a delay in future crises.”
