Manitoba offers extra cash to doctors who extend clinic hours, ups number of physician training seat
Province also announces physician mental health supports in latest effort to address doctor shortage
The Manitoba government is hoping extra money, more mental health supports and a boost in physician training seats will help address doctor shortages in the province.
The province will add 80 of the training seats and more supports to address physician burnout, which advocacy group Doctors Manitoba has repeatedly said is at an all-time high.
As of Feb. 1, doctors who extend patient hours at family and pediatric clinics are also eligible for a 20 per cent premium on extended billing hours, Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon said at a news conference Monday.
Gordon said the incentives are meant to make care options more convenient for patients while reducing pressures in emergency and urgent care settings.
"This will ensure primary care providers and pediatricians are readily available to families ... when they need it most," she said at the news conference in Winnipeg.
"It also helps our entire health-care ecosystem function more efficiently."
Eligible extended hours can be used to see existing patients or take walk-ins. Those hours are weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight, and weekends and recognized holidays from 7 a.m. to midnight, a news release said.