New Brunswick's highest-paid doctor earns up to $1.7M a year

The highest paid physician in New Brunswicklast year earned up to $1.7 million, according to figures released Thursday by the Department of Health.

Dr. Martin Finnegan,a diagnostic radiologist at theDr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre inMoncton, was paid between $1,650,000 and $1,699,999 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018, the unaudited payments show.

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He was one of 31 physicians who earned more than $1 million.

The amounts represent gross earnings and do not reflect expenses some doctors may have, such as staff salaries or rent, the department said.

Making doctors' earnings public was one of several recommendations by New Brunswick Auditor General Kim MacPherson in 2012, after she found out some doctors were over-billing Medicare or double-billing for services.

"The payments to physicians for medically insured services are not indicative of a physician's actual take-home pay: they do not account for income tax among the highest in Canada nor do they include costs like office space, insurance or pensions," said Dr. Serge Melanson, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society.

He said the majority of New Brunswickphysicians are considered small business owners. This meansthey are responsible for costs such as office rent, staff salaries and benefits, equipment and insurance. In addition, he said, physicians typically begin practising with significant student debt.

According to the Canadian Institute of Health Information, Melanson said the province of New Brunswick spends less per capita on medical services than several other provinces in the country.

And compared to previous years, there are periodic fluctuations in earnings, which can be influenced by physician shortages.

"The [New Brunswick Medical Society]supports the publication of payments to physicians as it provides transparency and accountability to the public on how the provincial health-care budget is spent," he said.