Doctors’ contract set to go to arbitration
OMA president’s memo says meetings will begin in May and could last till October
Ontario’s doctors have reached an impasse with the province in talks for a new contract and will trigger a mechanism sending the negotiations to arbitration later this year.
“We are much better off having our team convince a board of arbitration than having government unilaterally impose their will on us,” says Ontario Medical Association (OMA) president Dr. Shawn Whatley in a memo to members, which the Star obtained.
He cites the failure to reach agreement on “redress for the unilateral cuts” the Liberal government imposed on doctors’ fees during four years without a contract as a key reason for abandoning mediated talks.
But Whatley cautions more than 20,000 doctors in the province that they will have to be patient.
Thirteen days of meetings with a panel of three arbitrators won’t begin until May 24 — this falls in the middle of the June 7 provincial election campaign — and continue into October, if necessary.
“Arbitration takes time,” Whatley said in the memo.
“Doctors desperately need a new contract. After four years, everyone at the OMA appreciates the sense of urgency and frustration you all feel.”
Health Minister Eric Hoskins, himself a doctor, said the government “remains optimistic” for a positive outcome.
“As our government works to deliver on our mandate in health care to improve access, reduce wait times and continue to improve the overall patient experience, we will only be stronger with a productive relationship with Ontario’s physicians.”
For years, the association has pushed for binding arbitration as a way to settle contract disputes — something the government has op- posed, given concerns about losing control over the $11-billion annual budget for paying physicians.
This latest impasse in contract talks has been a long time coming.
A previous round of negotiations disintegrated, prompting the government to impose cuts that infuriated doctors. A tentative deal was reached with the OMA in 2016, but physicians rejected it in a ratification vote and the association’s board was essentially ousted.
In the weeks that followed that drama, doctors cast ballots in favour of a new framework aimed at helping both sides reach a contract. It included a provision for binding arbitration if either side has concerns over issues that remain unresolved after 60 days of talks with the assistance of a mediator.
While family doctors voted strongly in favour of the framework, some specialists, most notably radiologists and cardiologists, opposed it because of a clause that empowers arbitrators to consider the large differences in incomes for different medical specialties.
Addressing that concept, called “relativity,” is expected to involve changes to the OHIP fee schedule, which would curb payments for some services now considered too high, and increase payments for others considered too low.
The Ontario Association of Cardiologists warned last year that too much focus on “relativity” will “pit groups of doctors against each other.”