3 Charlottetown family doctors leaving their practices

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Three Charlottetown-area physicians can be leaving their apply within the coming weeks.

The three medical doctors are Kris Saunders, Raymond Cooke and Jocelyn Peterson. Well being P.E.I. has estimated the full affected person load of the three medical doctors could possibly be as excessive as 5,400 sufferers.

Well being P.E.I. workers stated it was not yr clear whether or not these sufferers can be added to the province’s affected person registry. There are at present 23,669 Islanders who lack entry to a household physician or a main care supplier.

That is virtually double the variety of Islanders who had been on the affected person registry as of June 2020.

Saunders is a former president of the Medical Society of P.E.I. In a letter written to his sufferers, Saunders stated he could be leaving his apply as of July 1.

“Modifications of this magnitude are by no means straightforward – for the physician or the affected person, and I recognize that this may increasingly appear sudden,” Saunders wrote within the letter. 

“I’ve been working with Well being P.E.I. and with the Medical Society of P.E.I. for a while to seek out a health care provider to take my place. I used to be hopeful, proper up till final week, {that a} alternative could be discovered. Know that you’re a part of a beautiful apply, in a sexy setting and I’m optimistic that one other physician can be discovered within the coming months.”

In the same letter posted at his workplace within the Charlottetown Polyclinic, Cooke stated he could be retiring from household apply after 32 years. He additionally stated he would start working with Veterans Affairs Canada part-time in July, transferring to full-time in September.

Cooke stated he has requested Well being P.E.I. to include his apply into an current collaborative health-care apply, often called a medical house, already positioned within the Polyclinic.

SaltWire known as or left messages with all three medical doctors however didn’t hear again by deadline. SaltWire couldn’t confirm whether or not or not Saunders or Peterson would proceed working with Well being P.E.I. in different capacities.

Want for brand spanking new mannequin

Well being P.E.I. chief medical officer Dr. Katherine McNally stated the province has identified for years that it’s going to face growing departures of physicians – both resulting from retirements or just due to different alternatives.

“This isn’t a shock. Folks depart their jobs, individuals change their jobs, individuals select to do different issues and physicians are not any totally different from the overall inhabitants,” McNally instructed SaltWire on June 13. “We, for years, had physicians who had been a lot older in comparison with throughout the nation. And that is been the case for a very long time. So we’re on the tail finish of that.”

McNally pointed to a 2019 doctor survey performed by the Medical Society of P.E.I. – whereas Saunders was president of the society – that discovered 56 per cent of P.E.I. household medical doctors who responded deliberate to both scale back their apply, depart the province or retire by 2024.

She stated that is why Well being P.E.I. has developed what it calls a brand new main care roadmap, which goals to see extra Islanders handled at medical houses. The medical houses incorporate allied well being professionals similar to physiotherapists alongside physicians, nurse practitioners and registered nurses.

“The brand new recruits are eager about team-based care. They do not historically wish to be in siloed care by themselves. I imply, that is a mannequin that is very antiquated and we have to transfer right into a extra fashionable mannequin of care.” – Well being P.E.I. chief medical officer Dr. Katherine McNally

She stated transferring to a extra collaborative mannequin of well being care – one not so depending on household physicians with massive caseloads – may assist recruit extra well being suppliers to P.E.I.

“The brand new recruits are eager about team-based care. They do not historically wish to be in siloed care by themselves,” McNally stated. “I imply, that is a mannequin that is very antiquated and we have to transfer right into a extra fashionable mannequin of care.”

Dr. Laura O’Connor, medical director for Queens County Main Care, stated the departures would have an effect on each the sufferers and their physicians.

“It is extremely tough,” O’Connor stated. “In different careers, I feel individuals may most likely transition between positions with much less emotional funding. I do not suppose any doctor could be enterprise a change like this evenly.”

O’Connor, who has additionally just lately begun working with a affected person medical house, stated P.E.I.’s present shortages are a part of a development being seen all through the nation because the health-care system responds to the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are at present 5 collaborative apply medical houses in P.E.I. positioned in Charlottetown, Stratford, Kensington and Cornwall/Crapaud.

Stu Neatby is a political reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. @stu_neatby