The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, in collaboration with the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA), today announced that a new Salaried Family Physician Remoteness Bonus has been developed to address recruitment challenges for salaried family physicians at remote sites in the province. These physicians are exclusively employed by regional health authorities and provide primary care in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Bonus amounts for salaried family physicians range between $11,000 and $17,000, depending on the remoteness of the location, and will be paid annually. In order to help determine the locations that would be eligible for the bonus, an isolation index was created and takes into consideration factors such as the population of a community; travel time to the nearest emergency room and tertiary care centre; and proximity to the Trans-Canada Highway.
The remoteness bonus builds upon the improvements achieved in the Memorandum of Agreement between the Provincial Government and the NLMA that was signed in 2022, including Atlantic parity for physicians, as well as the Shared Agenda for Family Medicine signed between both parties in January 2023 to advance priorities within family medicine in the province.
Quotes
“We must continue to work collaboratively with our stakeholders to find meaningful solutions to recruit and retain health care professionals in our province, and this Salaried Family Physician Remoteness Bonus is a wonderful example. Together with the NLMA, we have developed another creative initiative to help address our health workforce shortage.”
Honourable Tom Osborne
Minister of Health and Community Services
“The current physician shortage has demonstrated the challenges in recruiting family doctors to rural and remote hospitals in the province. The new Remoteness Index will help attract doctors by recognizing the unique circumstances of these sites while ensuring we are competitive with similar remote sites across Canada.”
Dr. Kris Luscombe
President, Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association
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