The province’s Health Minister is firing back at the Opposition for suggesting that Nova Scotia is beating Newfoundland and Labrador when it comes to the recruitment of physicians.

Provinces across the country are working hard at recruiting more physicians and other health care professionals to fill the demand.

Health Minister Tom Osborne says when you look at the numbers, this province and Nova Scotia are not that far apart.

He says Nova Scotia has approximately 100,000 people on the registry without a family physician and the number could be much higher because not everyone is registered.

Osborne says the number of physicians hired in Nova Scotia that the Opposition has been using doesn’t tell the whole story.

The Opposition says 160 doctors have signed up in Nova Scotia in the last 12 months. Osborne has asked the Nova Scotia government for numbers and says between April 1 and June 30 of this year, they hired 21 doctors, but 15 retired.

The province yesterday increased the signing bonus it is offering physicians willing to set up practice in NL for at least five years from $100,000 to $150,000 dollars—the highest incentive offered in Atlantic Canada according to government. Osborne says they’ve already seen an uptake in physicians signing on.