Ontario’s doctors have a new, four-year agreement with the province that will give them increased general compensation and see family doctors paid for administrative work.
An arbitrator had earlier awarded doctors a nearly 10 per cent compensation increase for the first year of their four-year Physician Services Agreement, and the parties went back to the table to discuss the remaining three years.
The arbitrator has now awarded them an additional 7.3 per cent over the three years, plus top-ups for certain groups, including doctors at children’s hospitals.
The Ministry of Health says in a statement that the arbitration award also includes investments that will help incentivize doctors to take on new patients and strengthen incentives for after-hours care.
The Ontario Medical Association says that an updated Family Health Organization model they’ve agreed to with the government will include pay for time spent on administration and better compensation for complex patients, which will help with family doctor recruitment and retention.
The OMA says 2.5 million people in Ontario do not have a family doctor, while the government says Ontario has the highest rate in the country of people attached to a primary care provider.
