Yukon Medical Association wants to negotiate for all physicians in territory

The Yukon Medical Association (YMA) is pushing for changes to how doctors in the territory negotiate contracts with the government, saying the current system is creating "discord and fragmentation" in the health-care system.

Dr. Derek Bryant, president of the YMA, says the goal is to empower his organization to represent all of the territory's physicians when negotiating with the territorial government. 

That's not happening right now, he says, and it means Yukon is an "outlier" among Canadian jurisdictions when it comes to how doctors are paid.

Currently, some Yukon physicians are represented by the YMA, which negotiates with the government to set fee-for-service rates. Other Yukon physicians negotiate their own contracts with the government directly, without any involvement of the YMA.

That's created a very "siloed" system, Bryant said.

"The result is that there is these inequities across the board in how physicians are paid and how physicians work, that really have a negative impact on what it means to work in the Yukon," Bryant said.

He described instances where two physicians who have negotiated separately with the government might end up getting paid differently for the exact same work.

"That, you can imagine, just creates a really negative work environment that we think has a very significant impact on recruitment and on retention," he said.

Allowing the YMA to represent all physicians will help create a more equitable environment, and will also be more clear and transparent as the YMA's negotiated agreements are public.

"People can actually see the results of the negotiations when the Yukon Medical Association and the entire physician community sort of approves what is negotiated."

NDP tables bill to make the change

On Monday, Yukon NDP Leader Kate White introduced a bill in the Legislative Assembly that would allow for the changes the YMA is asking for. 

Speaking to reporters, White said she's hoping for unanimous approval in the legislature.

"We know that physicians have requested this, and they've been requesting it for a number of years and it hasn't happened. So it's about making sure that the YMA has the power that they need going forward, no matter the government," White said.

"Political parties can say that they are interested in working together, but this is an example of actually working together and it's working together to the benefit of the physician community, and the health-care community."

In a written statement, Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said her government provided significant input on the bill, and looked forward to "exploring its potential" through debate in the legislature.

"We believe the new structure has the potential to standardize the process and support the future of health transformation in the Yukon," her statement reads.

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon said his party has also had discussion about the proposed legislation with the YMA, and the NDP. 

"In general, we're supportive of it and happy to see it come forward," he told reporters on Monday.

Bill 310 would recognize the YMA as the sole bargaining agent for all registered medical practitioners in the territory, and would also establish a dispute resolution process and provisions for binding arbitration.

Bryant says the proposed legislation is "exactly what physicians are asking for."

"Physicians are not negotiators and individual physicians, you know, don't go into medicine to have to spend the time that it takes to understand legal jargon and negotiate their own individual contracts," he said.

"We are an outlier. It's creating discord and fragmentation in the system. And this legislation is an opportunity to make make the Yukon sort of in line with how negotiations occur everywhere else in Canada."