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Melbourne doctor elected president
A Melbourne based surgeon will head up one of Victoria’s most influential health lobby groups for the next two years.Footscray urologist Dr Doug Travis was elected unopposed as president of AMA Victoria last night.
“Victoria has been well served in the last two years by both AMA Victoria President Dr Mark Yates and Federal President Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, a Victorian GP whose term will also come to an end this week.
“My aim as president is to ensure AMA Victoria continues to be a strong voice for all doctors to ensure all Victorians have access to quality healthcare,” Dr Travis said.
“Doctors today also see preventive healthcare as a critical part of their role and AMA Victoria is keen to ensure the good work being done by government in this area is further developed, in particular in the areas of obesity and men’s health.
“Other key areas I will pursue include the ‘hidden’ outpatient waiting list, which must be publicly scrutinised and meaningfully reduced, and increasing the capacity of our public hospitals to meet increasing demand.”
Dr Travis said he was keen to continue AMA Victoria’s support for communities and doctors in country Victoria, with many facing a constant battle to retain health services and grow with the needs of the community.
“The shortage of doctors in Victoria means metropolitan and country doctors are all working extremely hard to provide quality care to an increasing number of patients. I will be aiming to talk to as many doctors as possible during my presidency.
“In particular I am keen to visit as many regional areas as possible to ensure AMA Victoria can learn first hand the issues faced by country Victoria and continue to lobby for improvements.”
Dr Travis said an immediate priority was to lobby the State Government to ensure that the Health Professional Regulation Act, due to come into force on 1 July, was delayed until details of a national registration scheme were known.
“These changes to all Victorian health boards will come into operation 12 months before being overridden by national changes. This unnecessary prolonged upheaval will put Victorians at significant risk.”
Dr Travis works in several public and private hospitals in Melbourne and is involved in various charitable organisations including the E.J Whitten Foundation.
Dr Travis has served as Vice President of AMA Victoria for the past four years and chaired the AMA Victoria industrial relations committee last year during EBA negotiations.
He is married to anaesthetist Dr Helen Vokach-Brodsky and has four daughters aged 13, 12 (twins) and 10.
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