The provincial government and the association representing doctors agree on some things regarding access to medical services, but not everything.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association contends that the province does not have a plan when it comes to physician recruitment, but Minister John Haggie disputes that.
He says his government knew early on that a “cookie cutter” approach to medical services would not do the job.
The NLMA says the province needs to hire 60 doctors immediately, and 243 over the next decade.
Minister Haggie does not see those numbers as the gospel since various health information organizations float different numbers.
99,000 or 1 in 5 NL residenrs do not have a family doctor.
Fitzgerald says 20% of our doctors are over 60 yrs old, and we are simply not recruiting or retaining enough family doctors to keep pace with the growing needs of our population. @VOCMNEWS #nlpoli pic.twitter.com/bNUvXcTzul
— Ben Murphy (@BenMurphy590) November 27, 2019
The association calls the doctor shortage a “crisis” but the minister takes issue with universal application of “crisis.”
He notes that the province has more doctors now than at any time in recent memory.
