Dear Dr. Manitoba,
The Board is pleased to announce we have reached a tentative Agreement with the Manitoba government for a new four-year Physician Services Agreement, which offers a substantial new investment of $268 million into physician services. This is, by far, the largest Agreement of its kind for physicians in Manitoba history.
This $268 million investment in physician services will:
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Offer every licensed physician a Special Retention Payment of $21,000 following ratification of the Agreement.
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Provide competitive remuneration with across-the-board increases for all tariffs and alternate funded agreements. The increases include market adjustments in the first year, followed by 2% annual increases in years 2, 3 and 4.
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Make major investments in specialized and hospital care, including new hospital premiums, funding models, and addressing many of the issues identified by each specialty group.
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Make major investments into family medicine and general practice, including a game-changing new longitudinal family medicine model.
This tentative Agreement responds to the many issues and priorities identified by physicians through consultations and ongoing feedback:
- Virtual visits will now be permanent!
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Significant new funding for medical services in rural, northern, and remote communities.
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Benefit programs are protected, with some enhancements for our CMPA and maternal/parental leave benefits.
I encourage you to learn more about this historic Agreement. We have prepared a confidential overview for members. We also have webinars planned, including the first one tomorrow (Friday) at 7:30 AM. A recording will be available for on-demand viewing. We will also be launching a Ratification Information Centre so you can learn more about what's in this new Agreement for your bloc or group. Visit DRMB.ca/PSA to learn more.
You will receive electronic voting instructions on August 1 with ballots due by August 14.
We know the last several years have been difficult for physicians. You’ve faced prolonged uncertainty through the pandemic, escalating costs in your practices, and many physicians haven’t felt heard or valued by the health system or province. We believe this Agreement is a sign of turning the page on that chapter and will lead to an improved relationship, including the following meaningful steps:
- A new commitment by the government and health system to engage and consult physicians before significant decisions are made that could impact your day-to-day work.
- Creating a deadline for Manitoba Health to pay or respond to physician billing claims.
- Continuing the focus on reducing administrative burdens.
- Expanding funding for physician health and well-being, including a new focus on supporting new-to-practice physicians.
- Improving equity and reducing discrimination within the medical profession.
After carefully reviewing developments here and elsewhere, we are confident this is a strong deal by comparison to other public sector workers in Manitoba, as well as other physician agreements across Canada. With broad and targeted investments, this is a strong foundation on which to address physician concerns and to tackle the physician shortage through improved retention and recruitment.
I want to thank all members for your advice and patience as our team negotiated this new tentative Agreement. I also want to thank the team at Doctors Manitoba for their expertise and hard work, including many long hours over the last several weeks, to deliver this new Agreement for physicians. Their passion for ensuring physicians have the resources and support we need is truly unmatched across Canada.
Your Board of Directors has approved this tentative Agreement and we strongly recommend it to members. I encourage you to learn more about it and to vote to approve it.
Sincerely,
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