A physician in central Newfoundland who has established a virtual medical service says it’s time for the province to change how it does things and eliminate caps on the number of patients a doctor can see virtually.

There is a cap on the number of patients that a doctor can see virtually and while that may have been fine a few years ago, things changed rapidly and drastically during the pandemic. Virtual visits are now commonplace and acceptable to patients and physicians.

Newfoundland and Labrador imposes a cap of 40 patients that each doctor can see virtually the only jurisdiction in North America with such a limit.

Dr. Todd Young of Main Street Medical in Springdale and the virtual site Medicuro says virtual is even preferable to in-office visits in some situations, such as treating a person with a respiratory illness.

He says nobody wants to have a person with a respiratory illness sitting next to them in the waiting room.