Province strikes tentative deal with Alberta doctors

The Alberta Medical Association says it has reached atentative seven-year dealfordoctors with the provincial government.

"I am writing to share with you the good news that, following several weeks of intense discussions, Minister of Health Fred Horne and I have signed a memorandum of understanding," AMA presidentDr. Michael Giuffre said in a letter to doctors provincewide.

He said the agreementaddresses what physicians have been seeking in negotiations,including a fair financial package that meets the needs of both government anddoctors and being able toparticipate in decision making about the health-care system in the future.

"That includes everything from electronic medical records, to primary care reform, to specifically trying to find efficiencies with our colleagues at Alberta Health Services in making sure that we can get a bigger bang for our buck when it comes to dollars spent on health care in Alberta," said Giuffre.

The understanding is retroactive for threeyears,during which doctors will not receive a pay increase. There will be a 2.5 per cent increase for the next two years,followed by cost of living arrangement for the final two years of the deal.

There will also be a lump-sum payment totalling $68 million paid to physicians in a manner established by the AMA to address various financial challenges faced by physician practices.

Giuffre said best efforts will be made to distribute the funds within 90 days of the agreement being approved.

Contract dispute lasted roughly 2 years

The agreement comes after long andacrimonious negotiations that was only resolved by face-to-face discussions between the province and AMA for the pastcouple ofweeks.

"We decided to phone each other and we realized we were at a point where if we could not achieve a memorandum of understanding in a very, very short time thatI think we shared a very real concern that it could be a very long, prolonged period before we would ever see another agreement," said Horne.

Giuffre says he wants doctors to read the whole deal,which he says it is about a lot more than compensation.

"Ithink that they'll recognize that, yes, there will be some pain for those first three years on that agreement," he said."But after that, the financials are just really one part of nine parts of this agreement and the ability to have a say in health care all the way throughI think will make them byvery happy to sign it, to be honest."

Premier Alison Redford said the deal willlikely form the basis of similar agreements elsewhere in the country.

The deal must be finalized by next Monday before heading to a ratification vote by physicians in the next few weeks.

Opposition parties weigh in

NDP Leader Brian Mason says the Alberta Medical Association refused to let the government force them into a bad deal and it paid off in the end.

"And there's an old saying that if you stand up to a bully often the bully will back down, and I think this is a case where the doctors have stood up to a bully," he said."They have stood up to the Redford government and the government has in fact backed down."

Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith wonders why the agreement couldn't have been reached sooner.

Shesays the Tories had an agreement in principle before the last election but scrapped the deal for no apparent reason.

"They over promise, under deliver and create an unnecessary amount of turmoil before finally being dragged kicking and screaming to an agreement," said Smith."That's what seems to be the practice and I think that this is consistent with what we saw during the election."