The NLMA is looking for answers after the province announced that a company has been chosen to provide round-the-clock virtual support for rural ERs, and to help those without a family doctor.

Health Minister Tom Osborne made the announcement last week, but the NLMA has been left in the dark as to what the new service may be and who will be providing it.

Osborne did not name the company involved, but reports indicate the contract went to Teledoc, an American telehealth company.

NLMA President Dr. Gerard Farrell says they would have preferred to see a local company get the contract. He says they have plenty of questions about the contract.

That includes how the physicians working for the company are being paid. “Are they going to be paid commensurate with the physicians who are working here, or are we going to end up with another system like the fly-in nurses?”