TORONTO — Health Minister Eric Hoskins won’t rule imposing a contract on doctors, but says he’s willing to give the Ontario Medical Association time to canvass its members after physicians voted to reject a four-year fee agreement.
About 63 per cent of OMA members who cast ballots voted against the deal, which would have raised the $11.5-billion physician services budget by 2.5 per cent in each of the four years, to $12.9 billion by 2020.
Hoskins said Tuesday that if 10 per cent over four years wasn’t a big enough fee increase, then doctors need to tell the government how much they really want.
READ MORE: Ontario doctors reject new four-year fee agreement with province
“We’ve been told that’s not enough, so what is? Five per cent a year? Ten per cent a year,” he said at a meeting of municipal leaders in Windsor, Ont. “Those on the other side of this argument will need to tell us what they think constitutes a fair increase.”
Doctors have been without a fee agreement for more than two years, and last year the government moved to unilaterally impose some cuts in their fees.
Asked directly if the Liberals would impose a contract on doctors if the OMA cannot reach an agreement with the government, Hoskins left the door open.
“I’ve always believed that an agreement is by far the best path forward, but it needs to be one, I think, that is fair to both sides and fair to Ontarians,” he said. “And it needs to reflect the fiscal reality we find ourselves in.”
OMA president Dr. Virginia Walley said Tuesday that doctors will be asked what they didn’t like in the agreement and what they want to see when negotiations resume.
READ MORE: Ontario doctors opposed to new fee agreement delay vote on tentative 4-year deal
“We want to understand what it was that was problematic for them, what they saw in the agreement that was perhaps beneficial to them, and we need to very calmly and thoughtfully sort out what is our new mandate,” Walley said in an interview.
“Our board of directors will take all that input and develop a mandate for negotiations going forward.”
The OMA called the government “reckless” for imposing unilateral fee cuts, which Walley admitted angered and frustrated physicians.
“It’s not been in the best interests of patient care, and it certainly marginalized physicians,” she said.
Doctors opposed to the fee agreement were upset it didn’t include binding arbitration, but Walley said the government wouldn’t agree to that so the OMA will continue to fight the issue in court.
However, Hoskins insisted the government never rejected the idea.
READ MORE: Ontario doctors’ group warns patient wait times will rise with new fee deal
“I’ve always said that I am willing to discuss and am open to binding arbitration, but it needs to be discussed as part of negotiations,” he said. “I have a responsibility to ensure that the taxpayers’ money is managed efficiently and effectively.”
The Progressive Conservatives said binding arbitration “should be on the table,” while the New Democrats said the government must reconsider the issue so it can get back to “respectful bargaining” with the OMA.
Many doctors who opposed the tentative deal complained that it resulted from some kind of backroom deal when they didn’t even know negotiations had resumed. Hoskins said the government didn’t try to hide the fact that talks had resumed.
“It was at the OMA’s insistence that those discussions be kept secret,” he said.
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