The Manitoba government has announced that it will invest more than $13 million over the next two years to reimburse physicians practising in the province for their required licensure fees.
“We are healing health care by supporting and retaining hard-working physicians in Manitoba’s health-care system,” said Health Minister Audrey Gordon. “This announcement is part of a broader overall commitment to retain, recruit and train health-care providers and improve their working environment. We are reimbursing physicians for their annual professional licensing fees and providing them with the technology they need to create a more balanced work environment helps to make Manitoba a more competitive place to practise.”
The minister noted this reimbursement is part of an evolving package of incentives and workplace improvements intended to retain physicians working in the province.
Connecting providers across the province with innovative communication technologies is key to provider retention, the minister said. The Manitoba government is investing $350,000 to provide all Manitoba doctors with access to a secure messaging platform called Cortext, which helps physicians and care team members connect and collaborate in real time to make diagnostic and treatment decisions faster. The communications tool is expected to facilitate collaboration, improve care, and support better transitions for patients between health-care providers. It is a direct result of listening to front-line health professionals, the minister noted, adding that Cortext is expected to roll out to physicians beginning this month.
“Doctors Manitoba is encouraged to see these positive steps forward today from the Manitoba government to help retain more physicians in Manitoba,” said Dr. Candace Bradshaw, president, Doctors Manitoba. “These steps act on some of our recommendations to the province to tackle Manitoba’s physician shortage, including from the rural health summit we co-hosted with the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce last year. We look forward to additional resources to support and expand Manitoba’s physician complement, which will result in better access to medical care for Manitobans.”
As part of ongoing work to help improve workplace environments for physicians, earlier this year the Manitoba government partnered with Doctors Manitoba to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens faced by physicians and to establish a peer support program focused on physician wellness.
Nurses and allied health-care professionals within the public health-care system are also eligible for reimbursement of annual professional licensing fees for the next two years, the minister added.
These initiatives are all part of the Manitoba government’s Health Human Resource Action Plan, which is building vital capacity to support the health-care workforce now and build a stronger health-care system for the future.
More information about the Health Human Resource Action Plan is available at gov.mb.ca.
