The new payment model for family physicians announced by the province Monday means family doctors in B.C. will be close to the highest paid in Canada, a dramatic turnaround from their status as among the lowest paid in the country.
In fact, the deal is so good, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley is urging her province’s new premier, Danielle Smith, to bring in a similar pay bump to prevent Alberta doctors, currently the highest paid in the country, from being lured to B.C.
“I truly fear that Alberta doctors will look to B.C. as a place where the government has issued a very clear intent to build respect and to end chaos in health care,” Notley said during a news conference in Edmonton on Tuesday.
The new payment model, negotiated between the province and physician advocacy groups Doctors of B.C. and B.C. Family Doctors, means a full-time family physician working 1,680 hours a year, who sees 1,250 patients with cases of average complexity and has 5,000 visits from patients a year, will earn at least $385,000.
