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Tim Smith\/The Brandon Sun files<\/p>\n
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Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets: \u201cWe are finally being paid for some of the unpaid work that we\u2019ve been doing for years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile family medicine and primary care is still felt to be undervalued, we are finally being paid for some of the unpaid work that we\u2019ve been doing for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The funding model, negotiated with the provincial government in April 2024, changed the way family doctors are compensated.<\/p>\n
While physicians are still paid for each patient who visits them, they can also claim remuneration based on their overall patient load, and the complexity of those patients\u2019 health conditions. Additionally, those doctors can now bill for a portion of the hours they spend providing indirect care, including monitoring and following up with patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m hearing from family doctors is that Family Medicine Plus is a game-changer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manitoba is among only a handful of provinces offering such a funding model, following similar programs introduced by B.C. and Nova Scotia in 2023.<\/p>\n
The change provides more stability for family doctors and allows them to invest more time treating, understanding and communicating with their patients, Desilets said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s real value in that,\u201d she said. \u201cFamily medicine is a really challenging job because you have to know so much about so many areas of medicine, but the job becomes easier when you know your patients well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Sohail Gandhi, past president of the Ontario Medical Association and a family doctor in that province, said the new funding model \u2014 and the Manitoba New Democrats\u2019 often-touted \u201clistening\u201d approach to health care \u2014 has piqued the interest of some family doctors elsewhere in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot have a high-functioning health-care system without happy, healthy and engaged physicians. That just does not happen,\u201d Gandhi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be realistic, no government is going to agree 100 per cent of the time with a doctors\u2019 organization; that never happens. But, there seems to be a respectful conversation, some respectful listening, some collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot have a high-functioning health-care system without happy, healthy and engaged physicians. That just does not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
He referenced a medical conference he attended in September, in which many of his medical peers reported feeling burned out and were exploring ways to leave family medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcept for Manitoba. The few docs that I talked to from Manitoba, they were like, \u2018No, things are going well, we\u2019re happy, we\u2019re not looking at retiring or giving up our practices and changing things.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
According to data provided by Doctors Manitoba, the province boosted its ranks of family physicians from 654 to 838 between April 2024 and March 2025. There were more than 104,000 new patients attached to Manitoba physicians during that period.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Institute for Health Information found Manitobans had the best access to primary health care in 2024<\/a>, with 33 per cent of adults reporting being able to see their family doctor within one day of needing care.<\/p>\n That figure was the highest among all provinces, and better than the Canadian average of 27 per cent, the data shows.<\/p>\n The institute<\/a> also analyzed Statistics Canada data collected in 2023 and 2024, finding 85 per cent of Manitoba adults have a family doctor \u2014 slightly higher than the national average of 83 per cent, and second to Ontario at 88 per cent.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara celebrated the successful recruitment effort, but acknowledged more work is ahead.<\/p>\n Retaining physicians and recruiting more specialist doctors to work alongside family physicians is among the government\u2019s priorities moving forward, Asagwara said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe make a lot of effort to go out and listen directly to doctors and health-care providers and we have seen that by working together, we can make improvements to health care,\u201d Asagwara said. \u201cIt\u2019s an approach that I\u2019m really happy to hear physicians see as a valuable one.\u201d<\/p>\n About 188,000 people were without a family doctor, pediatrician or primary care provider as of 2024, Doctors Manitoba said.<\/p>\n tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Tyler Searle Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press\u2019s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic\u2019s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.\u00a0Read more about Tyler<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
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