The President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association is concerned about what he sees as the growing use of virtual health care, calling it a symptom of the ongoing physician shortage.
Further, he says government does not currently have everything it takes to reduce the shortage.
Dr. David Metcalfe says the use of Teladoc and FoneMed is actually increasing, not decreasing.
He says in 2024, five emergency departments were relying on virtual care to keep the doors open. in 2026, that number doubled to ten ERs across the province.
NLMA President Dr. David Metcalfe (NLMA)
Further, he says government does not have sufficient data to address the shortage.
For example, Dr. Metcalfe says you have to know how many physicians you actually need before you can have a proper plan for recruitment and retention. That was only partially addressed in a recent human resources document (the core staffing review.)
He says physician numbers were not included in that document. He wants to see a document showing how many are leaving the province vs how many doctors are being recruited.
