FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – Negotiations continued Monday to end the impasse between New Brunswick doctors and the provincial government, but the last-ditch effort was too late to head off a major walkout by physicians.

Health Minister Dennis Furlong said talks went on throughout Sunday night and into Monday and that it appeared there had been some movement on both sides in the dispute over wages and working conditions for the province’s 1,300 physicians.

“The gap has narrowed overnight,” Furlong said.

The two sides were far apart heading into the negotiations Sunday afternoon. The province has offered the doctors a fee increase that would work out to about 12.5 percent, or $23,000 per doctor, over four years. The physicians are demanding a 30 percent increase, or $50,000, to bring their wages in line with those in Nova Scotia.

A family doctor in New Brunswick now earns about $150,000 per year in billings from the provincial medicare system. Out of that, the doctors pay staffing and office expenses.

New Brunswick has been bleeding doctors for years, as they have been fleeing the high-tax, lower-pay province for better salaries and working conditions in other provinces and the United States.

The New Brunswick Medical Society, which represents the province’s doctors, said the Conservative government of Premier Bernard Lord has to make some positive moves to head off the exodus of doctors to other regions.

“If it’s going to take 75 or 100 doctors to leave this province because they’re fed up, so be it,” said Dr. John McCann, president of the medical society.

Fredericton physician David Flower said the negotiations confused the situation somewhat Monday, but he said it was too late for most doctors to change their plans and keep their offices open. He pointed out that doctors are not members of a union and most had already made other plans for Monday.

“I’ll be at the hospital looking after my patients there,” Flower said. “I think a lot of doctors will be in the hospitals. We’re all very anxious to hear what happens.”

Furlong said Sunday evening there was hope of a settlement because the two sides are talking, with the help of a mediator who became involved over the weekend.

“I hope there won’t be a strike,” Furlong said. “I would encourage the physicians of New Brunswick to keep working while we are trying to get out of this impasse with regards to wage competitiveness.”

Furlong said he doesn’t believe the province’s wage scales for doctors are wildly out of line with those of its neighbors.

“Yes, we are behind some of our neighbors, but we’re also ahead of some,” he said.

“We are ahead of Quebec, but it appears we’re behind Nova Scotia. We’re certainly ahead of Newfoundland,” he said, adding the province offers fees similar to Prince Edward Island’s.

The doctors have said they believe the public is on their side.

Emergency services will still be available through hospitals.

“The government is starting to feel the pressure from the public, who have shown us that they still support us in what we’re trying to do,” McCann said last week.

“The government has seen that, but it’s still not willing to take the necessary steps and truly come out and say there’s a serious problem with physician resources in this province.”

Furlong said there is a shortage of doctors in New Brunswick and that is making conditions more difficult for the physicians who are here. He said the problem isn’t unique to New Brunswick.

“There is difficulty right across Canada now with health human resources,” said Furlong, himself a family doctor from northern New Brunswick.