Mediated talks are underway to hammer out the province’s first blended capitation model for physicians, and the NLMA is hopeful it will help to attract more young doctors to set up practice.

The province has lost more family physicians with approximately 136,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are unattached to a family doctor. Medical Association President, Dr. Kris Luscombe says the fee-for-service system has fallen out of favour across the country and the province has to find a more modern model of compensation that will reward family physicians for the work that they do.

Luscombe says negotiations have advanced significantly, and are in mediation.

They’re hopeful that will get sorted in the next month or two, and if they feel that’s not working, they’ll advance to arbitration.

Luscombe says that’s not to suggest that the negotiations are fractious, but they are complex.

He calls it a revolutionary change in the compensation model, and requires a lot of thought and reflection to make sure they get it right. They want to make sure that once it’s built, it won’t unexpectedly harm other parts of the system. That, he says, is challenging, but the talks are advancing.