New Salaried Family Physician Remoteness Bonus Index
March 20, 2023
Dear Colleagues:
The NLMA and the Department of Health and Community Services have finalized a new Remoteness Index for allocation of additional funding to salaried family physicians in remote sites.
The physician shortage has demonstrated the difficulty in recruiting to remote sites that are mainly staffed by salaried family physicians. The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the NLMA and Provincial Government, included a commitment to develop an improved compensation system based on a Remoteness Index to help improve recruitment and retention.
The formula used to differentiate sites included such criteria as commuting time to the Trans-Canada Highway, greater than 30 minutes travel time to a Category ‘A’ ER, commuting time to St. John’s and population of the community. Using this formula, the Remoteness Index has classified communities in two tiers of remoteness.
The annual bonus for positions in Tier 1 communities is $17,000, while positions located in Tier 2 communities will receive an annual bonus of $11,000. Communities classified as “not remote” do not qualify for the Remoteness Bonus.
Communities are classified in the following tiers:
- Remoteness Tier 1: Old Perlican, Bonavista, Twillingate, Fogo Island, Bay D’Espoir, Burgeo, Port-aux-Basques, Lourdes, Norris Point, Jackson’s Arm, Port Saunders, St. Anthony, Roddickton, Flower’s Cove, Forteau, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Churchill Falls.
- Remoteness Tier 2: Bell Island, Placentia, Burin, St. Lawrence, Grand Bank, Whitbourne, Glovertown, Deer Lake, Stephenville Crossing, Stephenville.
- Not classified as Remote: Holyrood, Carbonear, Clarenville, Gander, Grand Falls-Winsor, Corner Brook.
Salaried physicians will continue to receive the Geographic Retention as outlined in Schedule C (page 41) of the MOA. The new Remoteness Index payments will be made at the same time as the Retention bonus. The Department of Health will work with the regional health authorities to operationalize the payout of this funding.
Sincerely,
Kris Luscombe
President
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