Breast cancer survivor’s family doctor quits as talks with Quebec break down

Just minutes learning that talks between the doctors’ federation and Quebec have broken down, Dr. Cynthia Lauriault found out she lost her family doctor.

Just minutes after seeing headlines that talks between the doctors’ federation and the Quebec government had broken down, Dr. Cynthia Lauriault learned she had lost her family doctor.

A family physician herself, Lauriault has a history of breast cancer and had just been referred after her regular doctor left in the summer.

“I didn’t even get a chance to meet him,” she said. “When I saw that the discussions had stopped, literally my heart stopped because we put so much faith into these negotiations.”

After weeks of deadlock, the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens (FMOQ) said Thursday that negotiations with the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government have ended.

At the heart of the dispute is Bill 2, which would tie doctors’ pay to performance and impose penalties if targets are not met. Doctors and their associations want the law suspended or significantly amended, saying they’re already overloaded and don’t have the necessary resources.

The law is set to take effect on Jan. 1.

• READ MORE: What’s in Quebec’s controversial doctors’ bill?

For Lauriault, who is both a doctor and a patient with potential vulnerabilities, the news came as a major blow.

“I don’t even know who’s gonna check my MRIs, my breast MRIs, and I’m just one of many now, and it is causing a lot of anxiety,” she told CTV News.

‘Surreal’ situation

She says that in Gatineau, where she works in palliative care, the situation is already dire.

At least 40 doctors have already left the Outaouais region, and another 50 have announced they will leave. These departures affect some 84,600 patients.

“At least half of the people, half the docs I work with, are gone, and many others are planning on leaving,” Lauriault told CTV News. “We’re talking one doc left for a whole urban area to cover all the on-call days, the home care patients, the palliative care patients, one doc only for one CT, which is surreal.”

She says many physicians are leaving to practice in Ontario, others are taking early retirement, and some are going back to school to change careers entirely.

It is also unclear how Bill 2 will affect her own practice, including whether home care is considered first-line or second-line care.

Laurault is one of many doctors calling on Quebec to suspend Bill 2 and find better ways to work with medical professionals.

She believes the “exodus” could have been avoided altogether and questions the government’s endgame.

“This is going to be their legacy, destroying the system and first line, and here in the area, the damage is going to take decades to rebuild,” she said. “They want the whole health-care system to go private, I guess. What other option is there?”

The CAQ has promised that every Quebecer will have access to a health-care provider by summer 2026. The government says the law is meant to push doctors to take on more patients, which Lauriault says is a far cry from reality.

“It’s dehumanizing to a bunch of people who do this and care for the patients, for the health-care providers. It’s like we don’t even matter. So I don’t know what’s the endgame, but I do know that their targets aren’t going to be met, that’s for sure,” she said.

And, she adds, the medical federations have lost trust in the CAQ.

In the meantime, Lauriault is hoping for solidarity from the public, who she says are ultimately the ones paying the price.