Premier asks doctors to call him directly if they want to practice in Newfoundland and Labrador

Any physicians who want to practice medicine in Newfoundland or Labrador should call premier Dr. Andrew Furey directly, he said at a press conference. The province is suffering a physician retention and recruitment crisis. “If there are any doctors out there right now who are in Newfoundland and Labrador who want to stay, or are elsewhere in Canada . . . [or] around the world who want to come to Newfoundland and Labrador, reach out to my office directly. If you have issues, reach out directly to me. That’s the type of priority that we are placing on this,” Dr. Furey said, according to CBC News. Dr. Furey’s offer was prompted by the news that Dr. Heather Cuddy, a physician working in Trepassey, turned down a full-time offer from Eastern Health because she felt it was inadequate. Dr. Cuddy had been working in the town’s clinic for three years, but had been without a contract for two and a half years. When a position opened up, she applied and was offered the job, but Eastern Health declined her request for travel time or a vehicle to help her negotiate the job that involves three communities. Eastern Health also wouldn’t provide Dr. Cuddy the rural bonus for physicians working in communities far from urban centres, because the main community she’d be serving, Holyrood, isn’t considered rural. “To say that I felt devalued would be an understatement,” Dr. Cuddy told CBC News on June 30. “It was very disappointing for me, as a physician, and I’m sure for patients who suddenly feel left a little high and dry with a new provider.” Compensation and retention bonuses are outlined in the agreement negotiated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) and the provincial government, Melissa Coish, Eastern Health’s regional director of primary health care and chronic disease management and prevention told CBC News. Nurse practitioners, who have a separate agreement with the department of health, sometimes receive travel time. Dr. Cuddy’s situation prompted Dr. Furey to make a direct plea to physicians to call his office with problems. Dr. Furey spoke to the media on July 5 while announcing a cabinet shuffle. Dr. John Haggie, who served as the province’s health minister for almost seven years, is now the education minister. Tom Osborne, previously the education minister, will now the health minister. Dr. Haggie has been blamed for the current crisis, something Dr. Furey disputed. “There's criticisms everywhere across the country right now, with closing emergency departments, stress and strain on nurses, on doctors,” said Dr. Furey. “Doctor recruitment issues. It's not unique to here. The criticisms are not unique to this minister. The criticisms are, in fact, levied against the Canadian healthcare system.” Read: Newfoundland and Labrador replaces health minister amid doctor shortages Others put the blame on provincial health authorities being too slow to retain new physicians. Dr. John Kielty, a family doctor in Deer Lake, told CBC's Newfoundland Morning that medical students often leave because other provinces give them offers more quickly. Dr. Kielty said he's trained medical students in his practice for more than 14 years and they often want to practice in the province. “When we see good people going elsewhere for very simple reasons, like not getting an offer in time, it's very frustrating,” he said. According to a poll commissioned by the NLMA, 24% of the provinces’ population, or 125,000 people, are without a family physician. The provincial government recently worked with Memorial University to add five more medical school seats for candidates from Newfoundland or Labrador. The province’s population has been growing since 2021, with 3,211 more residents since January 2021. The government's goal is to attract 5,100 a year by 2026 through immigration and migration from other provinces. Read: Sharing is caring: Atlantic premiers talk single licensing system for healthcare workers, helping patients get care in neighbouring provinces

Premier asks doctors to call him directly if they want to practice in Newfoundland and Labrador

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