Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 11/00) - Yellowknife general practitioners will no longer have to contend with overhead expenses in running their practices at Yellowknife clinics.

Under the plan, introduced by Minister of Health and Social Services Jane Groenewegen Tuesday, physicians will be offered employment on a contract basis with the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Board.

Current physicians will have the option of continuing to be compensated on a fee-for-service basis or selecting the contract arrangement.

The Yellowknife Health and Social Services Board will also assume ownership of the four clinics, including: Gibson Medical Clinic, Family Medical Clinic, Great Slave Medical House and Frame Lake Family Physicians. Employees of the clinics will also become employees of the board.

"It is our expectation that within the future patients will see a reduction in waiting times and improved access to physicians," Groenewegen said.

"We are confident that these developments will make Yellowknife more competitive and help us attract more physicians to the North."

Currently, there are 16 resident and six locum (non-resident) general practitioners working in Yellowknife.

Groenewegen said she hopes the new plan will encourage more physicians to live in Yellowknife. She estimated that between 22-25 positions would equal a full compliment for the city.

Under the fee-for-service plan, doctors typically pay out in excess of 40 per cent of their incomes for operating the four Yellowknife clinics -- an amount which has been skyrocketing over recent years as more physicians leave the city, leaving the physicians who do stay to pick up the slack.

"Someone coming up on their own would be responsible for all the expenses, moving their families up, and they're just not willing to make that commitment," said Dr. David Butcher who, along with board chairperson Ruth Spence, joined Groenewegen at the Tuesday press conference. Butcher was there on behalf of Yellowknife physicians.

"Add to that the fact that there's such a need for physicians here right now, that physicians could come in and not contribute back into the pool that pays for the clinics," Butcher said.

"They basically freelance around the edges. That means there's been a powerful dis-incentive to make long-term commitments and taking that responsibility for paying for part of the cost of running a clinic."

According to Butcher, the new plan has been generally accepted by local physicians, who he said feel that community ownership of the clinics will be an important first step in getting manpower at the clinics back up to speed.

Taking ownership of the clinics will not come without a price for the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Board. Spence estimates start-up costs will run in the range of $1.3 million, and for the first year of operating and managing the clinics the tab will be about $1.2 million.

"There will be an increase (in costs), but on the other hand, very few people will be collecting fee-for-service," Spence said.