More than 250 Quebec MDs balk at pay hike

MONTREAL • More t han 250 doctors and residents in Quebec have asked the provincial government to backtrack on plans to give them and other physicians substantial pay hikes, saying the money should instead be spent on the front lines of the health system.

In an open letter, they say the increases are particularly shocking given that other health- care workers such as nurses and orderlies face difficult working conditions.

The l etter, which was signed by general practitioners, specialists and residents, comes at a time when many nurses are complaining about excessive workloads.

Isabelle Leblanc, president of the group behind the letter, said nurses, orderlies and other employees in the health-care system are working under awful conditions.

“Basically, the amount of money the Health Department has to run the system is finite,” she said in an interview Monday.

“There’s only a specific amount of money and not more, and the more you give to the physicians, the less you give to workers or to improve access ( to the system).”

Leblanc admitted it was unusual for doctors to say they don’t want more money.

“But I don’t think it’s that unusual for people to say ‘ the workplace we work in needs more money, put it there and don’t put it in our pockets,’ ” she said.

“We think it’s going to help patients a lot more if the money is injected in the system, and not into the pockets of the physicians.”

L eblanc s aid s he has never seen so many people contacting her organization, asking it to do something.

“We have to stop using the argument that doctors should be paid more because they work hard,” she said. “A lot of people work hard.”

In 2016, the average salary of a specialist doctor in Quebec was $403,000, with radiologists leading the way with close to $700,000.