Many orthopaedic surgeons who have lent a helping hand, to treat the Haiti victims after the Jan. 12 earthquake, want Quebec health ministry to keep paying them their regular salary.

But Bolduc extends concerns that if he pays the orthopaedic surgeons the $800 a day they seek, other Quebecers, who volunteered their services in Haiti, will also want to be paid.

Medical staff with the Red Cross is receiving their pay by that agency, and police officers in the country are also given their regular salary, however, the health minister cites a decision to pay orthopaedic surgeons could have other repercussions.

"There are many consequences to the decision", the minister said. "Because there are many people who work in the aid scene and they are volunteers and they are not paid".

Bolduc estimated that eight to 10 orthopaedic surgeons, anaesthesiologists and general surgeons from Quebec went on their own, offering their professional services to the victims in Haiti.

Jacques Desnoyers, president of the Association d'orthopedie du Quebec, wrote to Bolduc, asking for the payment as a "recognition" of their efforts.