The province has announced a call for applications for Family Practice Programs.

The Family Practice Start-Up Program will provide $150,000, the highest incentive offered in Atlantic Canada, to new family practice physicians who open a family practice clinic, or join an existing family practice in the community, in return for a five-year service commitment. Family physicians working less than full-time may be eligible for pro-rated funding.

Additionally, the New Family Physician Income Guarantee provides new fee-for-service family physicians who open a new family practice or join an established family practice with a guaranteed minimum income over their first two years of practice.

“Since the launch of the Family Practice Program, 22 physicians have received funding to open or join a family practice right here in Newfoundland and Labrador,” says provincial health minister Tom Osborne. “The program enables better career planning on behalf of residents, which will impact the retention of these health care professionals.”

The programs are available to new family physicians who will be practicing in Newfoundland and Labrador, including:

• Physicians entering a fee-for-service family practice for the first time.

• Physicians practicing family medicine in another province who intend to relocate to Newfoundland and Labrador to practice fee-for-service family medicine.

As of June 2023, 33 physicians have accepted employment as a result of the Come Home Incentive and 22 family physicians are practicing in the province due to the family practice programs.