N.L. spent $32.1 million in 2.5 years on private virtual health-care services

ST. JOHN’S – A group representing doctors in Newfoundland and Labrador is calling out the province’s increasing reliance on private virtual health-care company Teladoc.

Dr. David Metcalfe, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, says the expansion of Teladoc’s services is a symptom of an unsolved doctor shortage.

In a statement, he said virtual care was never intended to be a permanent substitute for emergency care, or a replacement for a family doctor.

Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services signed a two-year contract with Teladoc in November 2023 worth $22 million to provide virtual primary care and virtual physicians in five emergency rooms.

As of May, a health authority spokesperson said Teladoc services had expanded to 10 emergency rooms and four urgent care centres across the province.

Mikaela Etchegary said Teladoc’s contract had been extended into this fall, and the health authority had paid $32.1 million for its services as of April 30.

Teladoc Health is headquartered in New York City, and Teladoc Health Canada’s headquarters are in Toronto.

“Virtual emergency support has proven to be an effective solution for maintaining access to urgent and emergency care in communities where physician coverage challenges may otherwise impact the availability of local services,” Etchegary said in a recent emailed statement.

Metcalfe said the province must attract and retain more doctors.

“Three years after the program was introduced, we are seeing more communities depend on the virtual platform to keep their emergency departments open,” he said in a statement. “That is not a sign of success, and it’s not the standard patients should expect in a modern health-care system.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.