Five years after New Brunswick's auditor general began putting pressure on the province to make physician earnings public, the Department of Health has released how much doctors were paid last year.

According to the information, the doctor with the highest pay is Stewart MacMillan, a radiologist at the Miramichi Hospital.

He was paid between $1.5 million and $1.55 million in 2016.

The Department of Health said the figures represent gross earnings and do not take into account expenses some doctors may have, such as staff salaries or rent.

Making doctors' earnings public was one of several recommendations by New Brunswick's auditor general, Kim MacPherson in 2012, after she found out some doctors were overbilling Medicare or double-billing for services.

24 doctors top $1M

According to the document, 24 doctors in New Brunswick received more than $1 million last year.

The vast majority were specialists, with radiologists and ophthalmologists at the top of the list, but some family doctors earned in the seven digits as well.

Paid more than $1 million in 2016 were:

10 radiologists

6 ophthalmologists

2 general surgeons

2 family doctors

1 cardiologist

1 gastroenterologist

1 dermatologist

1 pediatrician

Earnings reflect shortages

Dr. Lynn Murphy-Kaulbec, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, said earnings often reflect workload and a physician shortage.

''Some of these physicians are probably working way too much and that's responsible for the numbers that you're seeing," said Murphy-Kaulbec.

She said 91 positions are vacant across New Brunswick, including radiology positions in some areas.

Lynn Murphy-Kaulbec warns the gross amounts paid to doctors don't necessarily reflect their income, since many have to pay for staff, office and other expenses. (Radio-Canada)

Murphy-Kaulbec also estimates about a third of earnings go toward expenses for doctors working on a fee-for-service model.

She admitted she worried about how people would react to the numbers, but stressed the importance of having competitive salaries to keep medical graduates from leaving the province.

New Brunswick comes seventh out of 10 provinces in doctor earnings, with an average salary of $302,123 according to the latest data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

'Huge step'

Health Minister Victor Boudreau said the province made legislative changes in 2015 to allow them to make the figures public.

​''I think it's a huge step in being open and transparent," said Boudreau.

Victor Boudreau calls releasing physician earnings a huge step toward transparency. (Radio-Canada)

Boudreau refused to comment on whether he thinks doctors are paid too much or too little, but echoed Murphy-Kaulbec's sentiment that wages have to be competitive to keep doctors in New Brunswick.

As part of the four-year agreement signed with the New Brunswick Medical Society, a committee is being put in place to review medical fees, Boudreau said.

"Some would say there are some fee codes that are too high because of technological advances, there may be other fee codes that are too low," he said.