Q&A: Bill 2 uncertainty leaves Quebec clinic short two doctors

Quebec’s wide-ranging overhaul of the health-care system under Bill 2 continues to ripple through the province, with some clinics reconsidering closures even as others warn the uncertainty is already taking a toll.

Dr. Mark Roper, a family doctor and the Director of the Queen Elizabeth Family Medicine Group says his clinic has lost two full-time physicians amid concerns over the legislation, even as the government delays implementation and signals it will revisit some of its most controversial provisions ahead of a Feb. 28 deadline.

The legislation, adopted in October under a gag order, overhauls physician compensation by linking a portion of doctors’ pay to performance targets. Medical groups have raised concerns the changes could limit access to care and drive physicians out of the province, warning the law places added pressure on an already strained workforce. Some clinics, particularly those serving vulnerable patients, say they could still be forced to close if the bill is not amended.

Dr. Roper joined CityNews to discuss what those losses mean for patients and whether the government’s changes go far enough.

So you’ve mentioned that your clinic has already lost two full-time doctors, what does this mean for patients? 

Well we’re going to have 2,000 more without a family doctor in our territory and we’re already have it close to 100,000 without a family doctor in our region, so this is not very helpful. The other doctor was full-time in our urgent care clinic, which is open seven days a week and he was full-time in that area too and also a teacher, so it’s going to be hard to replace him so instead of expanding our service we’re going to scramble to maintain it over the next year. And the government is delaying the implementation of bill 2 and adjusting to address some of the concerns. 

From what you’ve seen so far, are the changes enough to stop further losses? 

I think so, I mean we were expecting maybe five physicians to leave and it’s we’ve only had two so far, so you know the clinic is not threatened with closure or severe loss of service and we’ve yet to see the final agreement but there is I think some agreement that any changes will be spread over five years, a gradual implementation of these changes and the draconian threats of 20,000 a day threats have been lifted. So it’s one of my doctors actually dated his resignation letter before the law came in so he was worried about having a 20,000 a day penalty while he was in Ontario, so that’s it’s good that those elements have been removed. 

And just lastly as we approach the February 28 deadline what do you need to see to feel confident that there’s not going to be any more losses or other clinics closing down? 

Well I think we’d like to see the ability to recruit new doctors you know our area especially downtown Montreal we have hundreds of thousands of inhabitants without a family doctor and but yet we take care of a lot of patients from other regions of Montreal and four or five whole areas so we really need help in central Montreal and we’d like to have the ability to basically fill our empty offices.