The provincial government cut medical services in rural Newfoundland to save money, according to documents released Friday by the Health Department.

It's the latest development in a story that began in early September when the province announced it would be cutting laboratory and X-ray services in Lewisporte in central Newfoundland and Flower's Cove on the Northern Peninsula.

Residents and physicians in those communities have been speaking out publicly against the cuts.

The government says it released the documents to explain how the decision to "modify" laboratory and X-ray services was made.

It released a letter exchange between the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Authority and the Health Department.

This new information raises questions about Health Minister Paul Oram's assertion that the changes were made to improve the health-care system, based on the recommendations of the provincial Cameron commission on hormone receptor testing.

The letters show the government began asking Central Health about cost-cutting options long before March, when Justice Margaret Cameron gave the government her recommendations about how to improve laboratory services in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The paper trail begins in February and lists 14 different options to cut costs in the Central Health region.

The Central Newfoundland Regional Health Authority is responding to a government request to list possible options to cut operating costs.

Closing services would save $222,000

The Lewisporte decision is No. 10 on a list of 14 cost-cutting options.

Closing lab and X-ray services there saves the province $222,000 annually, but Central Health's chair, Robert Woolfrey, issued a warning.

In a March 9 letter to former health minister Ross Wiseman, Woolfrey wrote: "None of these measures can be enacted without significant impact."

He also said the fiscal position of the province has to be balanced with the expectations of citizens with regards to the delivery of health services.

The documents only talk about a need to cut costs. They don't mention anything about enhancing the health-care system or whether Cameron inquiry recommendations would be met, as suggested by Oram.

After the letters were released late Friday afternoon, a Health Department spokesperson told CBC news the health minister has no further comment at this time.