Family doctors say they have managed to register 500,000 new patients, a month earlier than expected.
This is what the Quebec Federation of General Practitioners (FMOQ) announced Wednesday morning at a press conference at the National Assembly with the Minister of Health, Sonia Bélanger.
This objective was included in the agreement reached in December between Quebec and family physicians. If it were achieved before June 30, 2026, physicians could receive an additional $75 million, according to the terms of the agreement.
According to the minister, people without a doctor identified as vulnerable by the RAMQ (they are estimated to be 220,000) are part of these 500,000 new patients.
These vulnerable patients should, for the most part, be matched with a family physician. The other patients will be affiliated with a group of family physicians.
They will not be able to call their clinic directly to make an appointment; instead, they will have to continue to go through the first-line access point (GAP) for orphaned patients.
“As we speak, there are 556,473 additional people who now have access to a family doctor or a group of family doctors,” Bélanger rejoiced.
“The objective was ambitious, 500,000 patients, including 180,000 vulnerable ones, but we can say this morning ‘mission accomplished’,” added the president of the FMOQ, Dr. Marc-André Amyot.
Doubts remain
In a press conference on Wednesday, Liberal Party parliamentary leader André Fortin said he doubted that these registrations, mostly collective, would allow patients to obtain better access to care.
“It was clear that doctors would enroll 500,000 patients to get additional money that the government gives them,” he said.
“But, (…) will patients have more services? (…) Will there be more appointments available? Will it be easier to see a doctor?”
Québec solidaire MNA Guillaume Cliche-Rivard laments that “you still have to call GAP to get an appointment, and then it’s not even certain that you’ll be sent to the clinic you’re registered with.”
He struggles to understand why doctors are receiving the $75 million incentive before it is even known whether the results are conclusive.
“The check is already in the mail. How come we’re not sending it next year, after assessing how many of those 500,000 actually had appointments in the system?” he asked.
“Personally, I know very few people who receive a bonus before they’ve even done the work.”
“I don’t think there’s a doctor who’s going to have trouble paying for groceries if we withhold the bonus payment until we verify that the exercise has been completed successfully and with the desired objectives,” agreed Joël Arseneau of the Parti Québécois.
“A genuine support system, that’s something we’ll be able to verify in the future,” he stressed.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
