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10 stouffville suntribune thursday nov 25 2004 with osteoporosis osteoporosis cau 18004636842 a fractured hip could p for more information ufc cl iii ofcl iiui lug this message brought to you as a community service of the economistsuntribune rejected doctor contract threat to family practice mds by chris traber staff writer provincial physicians rejection of the latest government contract will have substantial consequences particularly for family practices say york doctors the fouryear multibilliondollar fee agreement proposed by the ministry of health and longterm care was rejected last week by 59 per cent of the 15377 ontario medical association members who voted it was a very complex deal in which about 80 per cent of physicians would not benefit said dr paul forman a family physician in vaughan the fee increases were not that significant unless a doctor is affiliated with a fami ly health group there are serious impli cations the result will be a severe short age of family doctors after his deal was voted down health minister george smitherman said no additional funds were available and the government wasnt in a rush to return to the bargaining table that according to dr forman could be a mistake patients are crying outhe said theyre not getting the service they deserve how is the government going to address this shortage unionville family physician rafik bechbache said the governments offer was too light on incentives and the tim ing of fee hikes was flawed we have been without a contract since last year and there were no fee increases until the spring of 2005 he said the increases were back loaded meaning they werent going to be avail able until the last two years of the deal the increases provided in the deal were about 10 per cent spread over four years unless a doctor worked in a fami ly health network dr bechbache said that did little to keep doctors from retir ing or attract hew doctors into family practice with the region expanding most people moving here cannot find a fami ly physician specialists are booking a year ahead if you need back surgery or knee replacement youll wait a year the quality of care wont be decreased but the quantity will be dr bechbache said they havent recognized the fact one out of six physicians are planning retirement and there was nothing in the offer to address this said dr tim nicholas a family practice and emer gency physician at southlake regional health centre if he minister smither- the quality of care wont be decreased but the quantity will be dr rafik bechbache unionville family physician man wants ontario to be competitive he should come back to the negotiating table because new graduating physi cians will not be tempted to stay in ontario older physicians will be tempt ed to retire and physicians in their 30s and 40s will be tempted to move out of the province in addition to his work at southlake dr nicholas has a family practice in aurora he contends the agreement would not have improved wait times it would not improve access ro fam ily physicians because there are no new physicians he said personally im very sorry we couldnt come to some type of agreement because we dont want to inconvenience patient care mr smitherman said he was disap pointed adding the agreement had been unanimously endorsed by the associations negotiating team after nine months of work we are rightly proud of the initia tives in this agreement but we will not be thrown off course not even a little we remain fully committed to our com prehensive plan to improve ontario patients access to the highest quality care mr smitherman said in a news release ontario patients communities and doctors have long been asking for the kinds of improvements that are in this agreement the plan provides reduced wait times more care for seniors and those with complex medical needs and more doctors for underserviced communi ties mr smitherman said he is scheduled to meet association president dr john rapin this week the fouryear deal worth 69 billion by 2008 would have provided fee increases of 4 per cent to 35 per cent depending on the type of services offered it included financial incentives to encourage doctors to relocate to areas with physician shortages the association reported ontario doctors are now paid less than their col leagues in six provinces had the deal been accepted the provinces doctors would have improved their ranking to fourth bjennair 18075 yonge st price chopper plaza yongebristol newmarket 9059520002 hours monwed 107 thurs fit 109 sat 106 sun 125 tdv eendk 8 i ssb wmcome in and test drive the appliances at iky drsrvlfcc fuu puf newmarkets most exciting 5000 sqft showroom over 170 appliances on display trained knowledgeable consultants friendly relaxed atmosphere no hassle shopping non commissioned sales consultants order parts accessories financing available oao