Family physicians reach tentative deal with Quebec over Bill 2

quebec city fellowship doctors feature struck a tentative accord with the responsibility, only weeks before the implementation of controversial reforms that had threatened clinic closures and the departure of GPs to other provinces.

The Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ) and the Quebec government announced the tentative deal Thursday morning. The two sides have been at odds for months over Bill 2, legislation that ties doctors' pay to collective performance targets.

Hundreds of doctors have applied for a licence in Ontario in recent months, while many family medicine clinics across Quebec said the overhaul of their financial model would force them to shut down early in the new year.

In a statement, the FMOQ thanked Premier François Legault for stepping in to spark a negotiating blitz, in order "to halt the disengagement and departure of Quebec family doctors, and to increase Quebecers' access to family medicine."

The FMOQ said it would present the deal to its members starting Friday and hold a vote in the days that follow.

"We are aware that the morale of family doctors — like that of many of their patients — has been severely tested," the federation said.

"The commitment and motivation of family doctors remain essential for the future of the front line and for the health of the Quebec population, and the FMOQ believes that this agreement in principle constitutes a concrete step in this direction."

France-Élaine Duranceau, Quebec's Treasury Board president, wouldn't go into details about what the deal included. But she reiterated that Bill 2 was intended to change the remuneration mode of the doctors and to increase the number of Quebecers that have access to a GP.

"I won't comment any further on the agreement because we want to let the FMOQ share the details with its members," she said.

Bill 2 was set to go into effect on Jan. 1, but Health Minister Christian Dubé said that would be pushed back to Feb. 28 to give doctors time to assess the agreement in principle.

"If there is a winner in all this, it's Quebecers," said Dubé.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the agreement would lead family medicine clinics, known as GMFs, to stay open after all.

Reached Thursday, the head of one GMF declined to comment, saying the FMOQ had asked doctors not to do interviews until they had presented the deal.

Despite the tentative agreement, Ruba Ghazal, co-spokesperson for the opposition party Québec Solidaire, called the entire process a failure. She said it had resulted in chaos within the health-care system.

"For patients, it's very, very problematic," Ghazal said.

The Quebec government has still not reached a deal with the province's medical specialists, who are also affected by Bill 2. Duranceau said negotiations are ongoing with the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ).

Montreal family doctors warn new health reforms will make compassionate care harder

Journalist

Benjamin Shingler is a reporter based in Montreal covering social issues and Quebec politics. He previously worked at The Canadian Press and the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, and is an alumnus of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. He can be reached at benjamin.shingler@cbc.ca.

---

---