Although the medical society and the government were at the negotiating table throughout much of the fall, by December over 10 months had passed since their contract expired, and a new contract was still nowhere in sight. The rotating closures — the society calls them "planning days" — were intended to bring public pressure to bear on the government by causing patients to complain. Patients were denied access to appointments and elective surgery during the planning days. "We recognize that some patients will be inconvenienced but we trust that they will understand the problem," says McCann. "If we can't recruit and retain physicians, there are going to be a lot of people in this province who don't have access to appropriate health care."

McCann estimates that New Brunswick currently needs at least 60 additional physicians, but recruiting them is proving difficult because of the fee disparity with other provinces.