The three oncologists had tendered their resignation in July slated to be effective October over the low pay. It prompted Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams to find a quick solution for 1,500 female residents whose reproductive health would be placed in jeopardy because of the acute shortage of such experts and the distant location of their province to attract practitioners.
Williams personally called the cancer experts to announce their rate increases, the main issue that prompted them to resign.
"It's like having moved a mountain... We didn't get everything we wanted, but there's enough good faith that they will work through the issues," Dr. Cathy Popadiuk, one of the three oncologists, was quoted as saying by the Globe and Mail.
She added, "That doesn't make us the best-paid in the country. We're still among the lowest." The three used to receive $250,000 yearly, which paled in comparison to the $350,000 to $450,000 paid to cervix and ovarian cancer doctors in other Canadian provinces. The two other women's reproductive health oncologists are Patti Power and Lesa Dawson.
Also to benefit from the salary raises are cancer experts in pediatrics and hematology, who would get also the additional $75,000 per annum. The wage adjustment is retroactive to May 1, 2008 and will apply to about 12 oncologists in the province.
Willams admitted, quoted by Globe and Mail, "It's a dangerous precedent, there's no doubt about that... But when you're talking in terms of patient health and safety and well being and health care, then there's some times you just have to step up."
