Solutions from both the public and private sectors need to be on the table to improve patient care, says the incoming head of the Canadian Medical Association.

Dr. Anne Doig, a family doctor from Saskatoon, will take over as president of the CMA on Wednesday.

Doig has spent 30 years caring for patients in Saskatoon, where physicians from across the country gathered on Sunday for their annual meeting. Fixing what ails the country's medical system is the major topic on their agenda.

Dr. Anne Doig

Dr. Anne Doig has served on various committees for both the CMA and the Saskatchewan Medical Association.

She is a competitive swimmer and an active volunteer in the sport.

She and her husband owned and operated a family grain farm near Rosetown, Sask., until 2007, according to the CMA. They have six children.

Doig is the daughter of Dr. Noel Doig, who opened his practice in the village of Hawarden in 1958 before moving to a larger group practice about 100 kilometres south in Saskatoon three years later. She joined the clinic in 1978.

Her brother, Dr. Christopher (Chip) Doig, is president-elect of the Alberta Medical Association and an intensive-care physician at Foothills Hospital in Calgary.

Sources: Canadian Medical Association, CMA Bulletin

Doig doesn't hesitate to say patients are getting less than optimal care in Canada.

"The debate needs to be around what is appropriate care, and how do we help patients to have access to that appropriate care when they need it," Doig said. "So you know, right treatment for the right patient at the right time: How do we do that?"

Doig is willing to look for solutions from private and public sectors to improve patient care, but stressed she'll never waver from one principle: access to care regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

She rejected a recent development in Alberta, where doctors have started opening "members only" clinics with annual fees of $3,000 to $4,000.

"Do we think that that is a model of care for Canadians? No, we don't," said Doig.

The debate about public versus private care is sidetracking discussions on health care in general, both in Canada and the United States, she said.

"The whole thing is about looking at what other people do," Doig told The Canadian Press. "That's called looking at the evidence, looking at how care is delivered and how care is paid for all around us [and] then saying 'Well, OK, that's good information. How do we make all of that work in the Canadian context? What do the Canadian people want?'"

This week, CMA members will look at what is happening in Europe. Current CMA president Dr. Robert Ouellet will present details from his fact-finding trip to Europe in January, where he met with health groups in England, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.

Ouellet has said "competition should be welcomed, not feared," and that there could be a role for private health-care delivery within the public system.

CMA members are trying to come up with what they call a "blueprint" to transform medical care in Canada, which they will then pitch to the public and politicians.

With files from The Canadian Press