N.L.'s premier asked doctors to contact him directly about working in the province. They had a lot to say

Their names are redacted for privacy reasons. But their experiences trying to practise medicine in Newfoundland and Labrador are not.

There's the St. John's-born and -raised doctor, trained at Memorial University's medical school before moving away, who outlined a list of hurdles to coming back — including lower pay, child-care concerns and a lack of effective recruitment strategies.

"I am often asked by others why I never returned to Newfoundland when I completed residency," the doctor wrote in an email to Premier Andrew Furey on July 27. 

"The answer is simple: I was never asked."

There's the doctor who wanted to provide the premier with an update on the status of rheumatology services. 

"In a word, like everything health-care-related in this province presently, it is dire," they wrote.

And there's the general practitioner from Ukraine, forced to move out the country because of the war, now seeking to practise medicine in St. John's.

"The people of Newfoundland need my help, and I really want to help," the doctor wrote. "Please simplify the system. We will not let you down."

In early July, at a cabinet shuffle announcing a new health minister, the premier fielded questions and issued an invitation.

"I'll put a plea out right now: if there's any doctors out there from in Newfoundland and Labrador who want to stay, who are elsewhere in Canada who want to come, who are around the world who want to come to Newfoundland and Labrador, reach out to my office directly," he said.

"And if you have issues, reach out directly to me. That's the type of priority that we're placing on this."

Many took him up on the offer.

CBC News obtained more than 200 pages of email correspondence between doctors and the premier's office through an access-to-information request.

Furey said in an interview that there are job offers in the works as a result of that open call-out but not everyone who inquired would fit the criteria the province needs.