Minister comments on MOU with medical association

The province has asked physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador to honour their 4 � year agreement with government. Julie Bettney, Minister of Health and Community Services, communicated this position to Dr. Lydia Hatcher, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) the association requested an additional $15 million be added to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was signed in 1998. The $15 million is requested to address specific issues related to family physicians and on-call issues for doctors.

Minister Bettney said the current MOU does not expire until September 2002. "Government and the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association entered into the agreement in good faith, in full knowledge of its content and terms," said the minister. "In fact, the NLMA chose to have a 4 � year agreement, even though government was willing to sign a three year term." The $32 million in the MOU was very rich for its time. Physicians received increases at that time which were unavailable to other professional groups or unions.

Minister Bettney assured the medical association that according to normal practice, government and the NLMA would begin to negotiate new terms in the spring of 2002, approximately six months prior to the expiry of the current agreement.

The minister pointed out that the number of physicians in the province is stable and growing. The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Board, the province�s physician licensing body, recently released statistics which support this. In 1997, there were 474 family physicians and today, in 2001, there are still 474. The number of licensed specialists has increased from 439 to 466 in the same time period. "Despite our population declines, we have maintained or improved our physician numbers in Newfoundland and Labrador over the past few years."

"Government cannot afford to add $15 million to the MOU. Furthermore, if we did have an extra $15 million, we would have to seriously consider the many pressures in our health system vying for extra dollars at this time � like cardiac care, health board deficits, home support and drug therapies." The NLMA clearly recognizes the financial position in which the province finds itself. On the conclusion of Canadian Medical Association meetings last month, Dr. Hatcher publicly recognized the need for increased health care funding from the federal government, something the province has been saying for a long time. She said she doesn�t see much opportunity for funding for primary care reforms, remuneration and retention of physicians or new equipment in the future without increased federal funding.

The NLMA is requesting an injection of money into the MOU in order to allow for an increase in compensation for family physicians in the province and to address issues of being "on-call". While our specialists are generally on par with their counterparts across the country, government recognizes that compensation for family physicians needs to increase. "Government is willing to take the full amount of money remaining in the current MOU directed to addressing disparity and provide it to family physicians in order to reduce to the extent possible the amount of disparity between themselves and those in other provinces," said Minister Bettney. The minister also said government agrees that on-call issues must be addressed, noting that it is currently considering a mediator�s report which clarifies how on-call payments are made to a number of physician groups.

Minister Bettney said many major pressure points in the health system point to the need to examine our current system and to make changes which will allow us to manage a sustainable system in the future. This is something the minister will address at regional health forums being held around the province this fall. She also noted the recent set-up of a Primary Care Advisory Committee in the province which will examine issues related to the delivery of primary health care by family physicians throughout the province. Primary health care is the first point of entry into the health system. It is the level where family medicine is practised, where health promotion and prevention are a priority and where people receive supportive and rehabilitative services.

Media contact: Carmel Turpin, Communications, (709) 729-2788.

2001 02 14              12:15 p.m.