Time to release the doctor details

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/07/2024 (453 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s NDP government should come clean on how many new doctors, if any, it has recruited since taking office nine months ago.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara confirmed last week that Canadian Health Labs, a recruitment agency hired last year by the former Progressive Conservative government, has not recruited a single doctor to come to Manitoba. That’s bad news for a province plagued with one of the fewest doctors per capita in Canada.

Taxpayers are not on the hook for costs associated with CHL’s work (whatever work that may be). The agency only gets paid if it finds new doctors willing to locate to Manitoba. Still, the fact that not one doctor has been recruited is disappointing to say the least.

Asagwara said that doesn’t mean the NDP government can’t meet its goal of hiring 100 more doctors by next spring. The province is taking a “dynamic approach” to recruiting and retaining physicians by talking to as many physicians and health care providers as possible, said Asagwara.

It’s a vague statement that does not provide the public with much information.

The minister said the province is focusing on retaining doctors that are already working in the system, although few specifics were given as to how.

The only details the public does have on government’s recruitment and retention strategy is that the province has increased the number of physician resident spots by 30 per cent, all of which have been filled.

What the minister won’t reveal is how many new doctors have been recruited since the NDP took office last October. That’s problematic. Nobody is expecting miracles from government after only nine months in office. However, the public deserves to know where things stand on doctor recruitment. Are there more doctors working in Manitoba since last fall? About the same? Fewer?

Those figures should be tracked and published on a regular basis so Manitobans can see whether progress is being made. It’s not enough for the NDP to criticize the former Tory government for failing to recruit new physicians. It must have a concrete plan with details, targets and regular progress reports.

What is also lacking from the NDP government’s doctor recruitment plan are specifics around Manitoba’s competitiveness when it comes to doctor remuneration. Money is not the only factor in recruiting doctors to Manitoba. Working conditions, quality of life, and the appeal for some transplanted Manitoba doctors to return home can be effective draws.

Those factors are especially important when seeking out physicians willing to fill spots in rural and northern Manitoba, where the doctor shortage is particularly acute.

However, financial incentives are paramount. Money talks. If Manitoba is not offering physicians competitive remuneration packages, recruitment efforts will suffer. How many doctors would be willing to take a pay cut to work in Manitoba? Probably not many.

The province should be open and transparent about what it is willing to offer physicians financially to work in Manitoba.

Granted, it’s important for provinces to avoid bidding wars when recruiting doctors or other front-line workers, including nurses. Like Manitoba, most provinces are experiencing a shortage of health care professionals. The last thing Canada needs is for provinces to be aggressively poaching health care workers from each other.

At the same time, it’s important that Manitoba offers front-line health care workers, including physicians, competitive salaries.

Manitobans deserve more than vague platitudes from government on doctor recruitment.

The time for action is now.