The Health Minister says the province is trying to get a more accurate handle on the exact number of Newfoundlanders and Labrodorians without a family doctor.

Those who have renewed their MCP of late may have noticed that they’re being asked whether or not they have access to a family doctor.

The NLMA says nearly 150,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are without a family physician, a number Minister Tom Osborne says is based on a much smaller sample size.

He says government has put some measures in place to get a more accurate sense of how many people are unattached to a family doctor.

When you register for MCP, you will be asked if you have a family doctor. He knows that process will take five years, but they’re already a year into the process.

Based on that, Osborne says they’re starting to get a better sense of the issue.

Government is working with the NLMA to refine “their number vs our number, because our number…(is) less than that.” He admits however, that any number of people without a family doctor is too many people.