'We aren’t nearly as competitive as Newfoundland': How the Sask. $200K doctor incentive compares
Hours after Saskatchewan announced it would give doctors a financial bonus for working in rural areas, Newfoundland upped the ante.
The government of Saskatchewan will give physicians willing to work in rural areas $200,000. The bonus will be spread out over five years to fill positions where recruitment has been a challenge.
Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador’s health minister, Tom Osborne, announced an incentive “no province can match.”
Newfoundland and Labrador is offering $200,000 for physicians to work in its community of Bonavista over two years — plus $100,000 over five years, under the Come Home incentive, meant to entice doctors who have ties to the province.
“It means we aren't nearly as competitive as Newfoundland, but on the other hand, we're a long way away from Newfoundland, so we'd probably be attracting a different population of candidates,” said Dennis Kendel, a health policy expert and retired physician.
In an effort to keep physicians once they're hired, Saskatchewan increased its incentive duration from four years to five years.
Kendal applauded that move but said financial incentives are only part of the equation.
“The much more important thing is how well the community environment meets the needs of the physician and her or his family,” Kendal told CTV News, adding the importance of also having employment for a physician’s spouse.
Kendal said doctors who practice in smaller communities usually end up always being on-call because patients know where they live.
“They call you whether you're on-call or not,” he explained.
To improve rural doctors’ quality of life, and patient care, Kendal suggests a “team-based primary care model.”
In this model, health professionals work together. For example, a physician would work closely with a social worker, dietitian or physiotherapist.
Kendel encouraged Saskatchewan’s health minister to “actually sit down with health professionals” to come to solutions.
HOW INCENTIVES IN OTHER PROVINCE RANK
- New Brunswick $100,000 over four years
- Nova Scotia: $25,000 when a physician signs-on, then $20,000 per year for five years
- Prince Edward Island $50,000-115,000 over three years, depending on the community.
- Ontario $7,413 per year to practice full-time in northern Ontario
- Alberta: $60,000 tuition fee reimbursement, along with bonuses ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 — depending on the remoteness of the community
- British Columbia $5,000-$20,000 for physicians recruited to fill rural vacancies
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.