N.L. children's care being hurt: MD

A pediatric emergency doctor in St. John's says loss of medical specialists will "cripple" the province's only children's hospital.

In early November, a group of salaried doctors in the province resigned to protest the government's unwillingness to pay them more in its new contract offer.

Seven of the 14 doctors who quit specialize in pediatric care:Dr. Tracey Bridger, Dr. Laura Vivian, Dr. Leigh Ann Newhook. Dr. Debbie Reid, Dr. Rick Cooper, Dr. Mohammed Alam, and Dr. Sandra Luscombe.

"The loss of the specialists destroys the Janeway Hospital [in St. John's] as a tertiary care centre," said Dr. Bob Porter.

Porter was speaking at a news conference organized by the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, the group that represents doctors in the province.

The doctors who tendered their resignations on Nov. 4 are upset the government has refused to offer them the same pay increase it gave to some doctors in the wake of the breast cancer-testing scandal.

In 2008, Premier Danny Williams offered some specialists, including oncologists and pathologists, a pay raise after an inquiry into the scandal concluded some specialists might leave the province.

The resigning doctors said this created a two-tier pay structure for physicians.

Porter and another pediatric emergency doctor who spoke Monday, Dr. Ian Marshall, urged the provincial government to pay specialists competitive salaries.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, the group that represents all doctors in contract negotiations, has said it's frustrated with the pace of talks, which have gone on for nearly two years.

The association said recently that the government hasn't budged on the contract proposal it made last May. The association called that offer "insulting" to doctors, but the province proposed it again this fall.

The government offered 97 per cent pay parity with doctors in Atlantic Canada phased in over four years from 2009 to 2013. The province's more than 1,000 doctors would receive 40 per cent of that pay increase in the first year of the contract and 20 per cent of the increase in each of the next three years.

Doctors have said they now receive less than 80 per cent of the pay their Atlantic colleagues.

Physicians have said the province must significantly increase the amount it pays them if it wants to recruit and retain physicians.

The doctors' last four-year contract expired more than a year ago. The association announced in late October that it would put the government's offer to a vote in mid-November. It expects to have all doctors' votes back by Dec. 13.