The Ontario Medical Association’s general meeting was followed by a vote on the Physician Services Agreement (PSA) reached by the government and the OMA, which represents the province’s 42,000 doctors.
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Alongside the increase in funding, the agreement would also give doctors the ability to co-manage the healthcare system with the Ministry of Health as well as Long Term Care.
Dr. Virginia Walley, president of the OMA has said the physician services agreement “isn’t perfect” but will allow predictability.
A third-party tabulator was counting the votes and did not anticipate releasing results until Monday, an OMA spokeswoman said.
The OMA has more than 40,000 members, many who would have voted by proxy.
Moreau is part of the group Concerned Ontario Doctors, which staged rallies and protest marches urging physicians to vote against the deal, warning it doesn’t provide adequate funding to provide the services patients need.
“No one is asking for a raise”, said Jacobs.
The OMA says it will continue to fight for binding arbitration in court, but recommends doctors accept the new deal because it’ll bring financial stability after two years without a contract.
The OMA knows the deal “isn’t flawless”, said Walley, and that some doctors are angry, especially at what she called the “disrespect” shown them by the government.
“This divisiveness is so disheartening”, Andrea Moser, a family physician in favour of the agreement, said at the meeting, which included doctors, medical students and retirees.
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“Most of the people I speak with, that I hear from, are in fact supportive of the agreement and understand the stability it’s going to provide for the profession”.
