Doctors, province reach tentative deal to send contract disputes to arbitration

Posted on May 19, 2017 in Health Delivery System

TheStar.com – News/Queen’s Park – The next step is for members of the Ontario Medical Association to ratify the pact, clearing the way for contract talks on compensation for physicians, Premier Wynne said.
May 18, 2017.   By

Ontario’s doctors and the provincial government have reached a tentative deal on a process that would send future contract disputes to binding interest arbitration.

The next step is for members of the Ontario Medical Association to ratify the pact, clearing the way for contract talks on compensation for physicians, said Premier Kathleen Wynne.

“This is an important milestone and a first step toward renewed discussions,” Wynne added in statement.

“Our priority is to reach an agreement that will allow Ontario’s doctors to continue their important work and make sure that people across our province have access to a high quality, responsive healthcare system that is sustainable for generations to come.”

OMA members rejected a contract with the government last summer, leading to turmoil in the organization and a new executive.

“I’m optimistic that, working collaboratively, we will reach a physician-services agreement that respects doctors, provides fair growth in compensation and builds a stronger healthcare system,” Health Minister Eric Hoskins said in a statement.

Negotiations had been progressing well in recent weeks.

OMA president Dr. Shawn Whatley said the arbitration deal represents “significant benefits for the profession” and promised a series of briefing sessions for doctors across the province before electronic voting is conducted.

A general meeting of members will be held June 17.

Under binding interest arbitration, an arbitrator decides how to settle a dispute based on an agreed framework of issues set in advance by both sides. Neither the government nor the OMA would comment on details.

Within the arbitration framework, any contract disputes would go to mediation in attempts to reach a settlement before an arbitrator is called in.

Doctors have been frustrated by unilateral fee cuts imposed by the government in the last couple of the years in attempts to rein in costs in the healthcare system.

Until recently, the government has refused to discuss binding interest arbitration, because it didn’t want to relinquish control of the $11.5-billion annual physician services budget to an arbitrator.

There are concerns losing that control would mean that funding decisions are divorced from the need to reform the system to improve efficiencies and take modern technology into account.

https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/05/18/doctors-province-reach-tentative-deal-to-send-contract-disputes-to-arbitration.html

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