Melanie Fraser is no longer Health P.E.I.’s chief executive officer after months of tension between the provincial health authority and front-line workers.
The province’s announcement Wednesday came on the same day that 93 Island physicians signed a letter to Premier Rob Lantz and Health Minister Cory Deagle saying they had lost confidence in Fraser’s leadership.
But strife between the provincial government, Health P.E.I. and its employees goes back years — and many times was centred around the health authority’s CEO, which Lantz said Wednesday is “one of the toughest jobs in Prince Edward Island.”
Here is a timeline of some of the standout events in recent years.
March 2023
Much like elsewhere in the country, P.E.I’s health-care system came under increasing pressure following the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020.
In March 2023, Island doctors warned of a potential health-care “system collapse.”
The Medical Society of P.E.I. called on all parties in that year’s provincial general election campaign to commit to urgent action to save the system.
“To do the extra work, to go above and beyond, and to really make things work, and we’re really just running out of runway here. People are tired, people are frustrated, it’s very hard to get your job done every day in this system,” medical society president Dr. Krista Cassell said at the time.
“We’re losing people, we’re losing practitioners, because they’re so fed up.”
The society estimated at the time that P.E.I. doctors spent 67,895 hours a year on unnecessary administrative work and that freeing physicians from those tasks would be the equivalent of bringing 26 new doctors into the system.
May 2023
A shortage of internal medicine specialists led to the closure of the intensive-care unit at Prince County Hospital in Summerside, the province’s second-largest hospital.
Prince County Hospital’s ICU was transitioned into a progressive-care unit in May 2023. It would remain that way until the intensive-care unit was reinstated in the summer of 2025. (Shane Ross/CBC)
Health P.E.I. transitioned the ICU into a progressive-care unit. An ICU requires the presence of internal medicine staff around the clock, but a PCU can be operated by family physicians, hospitalists and nursing staff.
Patients requiring intensive care would need to be treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, around 60 kilometres away.
Later that month, then-Health P.E.I. CEO Dr. Michael Gardam apologized to staff at Prince County Hospital for comments he made about the level of care the intensive-care unit had provided in the past. He had said that the PCH was “not set up to be a really big sick patient ICU.”
“It never has been,” Gardam said. “We’ve always transferred patients to QEH. So this is just a little bit more of the same.”
Dr. Michael Gardam took on the role of Health P.E.I. CEO in 2021. (CBC)
As it turned out, that wasn’t true. In the past, the hospital had only transferred ICU patients to Charlottetown for more specialized care — less than once per month on average.
That same week, hospital closures were shown to be increasing in P.E.I. since the onset of the pandemic, according to data gathered by CBC News. Most of the closures were attributed to staffing shortages.
The P.E.I. Nurses’ Union also ratified a new deal with Health P.E.I. aimed at helping with recruitment and retention.
July 2023
Gardam submitted his resignation from his role as Health P.E.I.’s CEO, citing personal reasons that included wanting to be closer to his family in Ontario.
“It’s been a long three years,” Gardam said in an interview with CBC’s Maritime Noon, at the time.
“Not only did we go through COVID here, but we also went through Hurricane Fiona, and we’re facing the worst health human resources crisis the country has ever seen. And so that does wear you down.”
P.E.I.’s opposition parties worried at the time that Gardam’s resignation would represent a step backwards for health care in the province, noting the 700-plus vacancies in the system and more than 30,000 Islanders waiting on the patient registry to be assigned to a primary care provider.
Karla Bernard, then the interim Green Party leader, said Gardam’s resignation was an opportunity for government to “take the politics out of health care” and give more autonomy to Health P.E.I.
“We know that these problems certainly didn’t start under Dr. Gardam. Yet he’s leaving,” she said. “These problems are going to continue to get worse, and so we really need government to step up now.”
January 2024
During Gardam’s last week with Health P.E.I. after his tenure as CEO had ended in December, his appearance before a legislative committee led to a tense exchange with then-Progressive Conservative MLA Steven Myers.
‘We’re in competition with every other province’
Former Health P.E.I. CEO Dr. Michael Gardam tells a legislative committee why he’s been vocally opposed to a planned medical school at UPEI.
Much of Gardam’s testimony, which went on for almost three hours, focused on his concerns about planning for the new UPEI medical school. Stakeholders were too divided, he said, and needed to pull together to avoid serious damage to the health-care system.
“Health P.E.I. can exist without a medical school; a medical school cannot exist without Health P.E.I.,” Gardam told the MLAs on the committee.
“If we’re going to do this, how do we do it so that we don’t rip the guts out of the health care system at the same time?”
Myers accused Gardam of being inconsistent in his messaging on topics including the planned medical school.
Heated exchange between former Health P.E.I. CEO, PC MLA over state of health care
Dr. Michael Gardam spoke with MLAs at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, explaining why he quit and raising concerns about political interference by the premier’s office. Legislative reporter Kerry Campbell was there and explains what happened.
Myers also said Gardam had told him and other cabinet ministers during a closed meeting that Prince County Hospital’s ICU should be shut down, leading to a tense exchange:
Gardam: “What I said about that ICU was it could not stay open if we don’t have the people, and that my preference has always been that it stay open … but it cannot stay open now.”
Myers: “That’s not true.”
Gardam: “Show me the minutes.”
Myers: “I’m putting my reputation on the line against yours. I’m telling you.”
Gardam: “It’s your word against mine. I have been very …”
Myers: “I have never once lied to the public.”
Gardam: “Perhaps you misheard me.”
Myers: “No, I don’t think I did.”
Earlier in the meeting, Gardam also told MLAs that he’d received calls from the premier’s office telling him to “stand in line” or “get on board” with government policies or direction, particularly with regard to the medical school.
One day later, Gardam said he was told by the province that he wouldn’t be doing any more work with Health P.E.I.
He had another week of work ahead of him that included planned negotiations with the P.E.I. Medical Society on a new master agreement with family physicians.
Then-premier Dennis King defended himself and his government in an interview over allegations that the premier’s office interfered in Gardam’s work with Health P.E.I.
P.E.I. premier responds after criticism from former Health P.E.I. CEO
Premier Dennis King talks with Compass host Louise Martin after the former CEO raised concerns about political interference by the premier’s office and sounded the state of P.E.I.’s health-care system.
King said Health P.E.I. operates at arm’s length from the provincial government, but that the agency is still accountable to P.E.I. taxpayers.
“I would suggest that [Gardam] would be reminded from time to time by the chief of staff or the clerk of executive council that this is government policy that we’re moving forward with, and part of his duties as the CEO of Health [P.E.I.] is to implement the policies of the executive branch of government,” King said.
March 2024
Melanie Fraser began her term as Health P.E.I.’s CEO, taking the reins from interim boss Corinne Rowswell.
Melanie Fraser started as Health P.E.I. CEO in 2024, replacing Gardam and taking the over from interim boss Corinne Rowswell. (CBC News: Compass)
She came to the Island from Ontario, where she was the associate deputy minister of health during the time Ontario Health was created.
Fraser said she had experience in what she called “system transformation.”
“There’s a lot of stress right now, and a lot of it related to health human resources,” she said in an interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.
“So priority one is really going to be to think about how do we stabilize quickly so that we can get refocused on our priorities going forward.”
May 2024
A communication breakdown with Health P.E.I. left new nursing graduates in the lurch for months as they waited to find out whether they could secure a job in the province.
The P.E.I. Nurses’ Union said the grads were frustrated by delays in the health agency’s hiring process, with many receiving job offers only days before their convocation.
Just a few months into her new job, Fraser said initial letters of recruitment were sent to the graduating class of nursing students back in March, but an “error in the transition” then resulted in no communication from Health P.E.I. for several weeks.
Health P.E.I. says it messed up by not getting job offers to new nurses quickly
A Health P.E.I. communication breakdown this spring left new nursing graduates in the lurch for months as they waited to find out if they could secure a job here. CEO Melanie Fraser tells CBC’s Laura Meader what the health authority is doing to improve its hiring processes.August 2024
The P.E.I. government, Health P.E.I. and the Medical Society of P.E.I. announced a new agreement.
The province said that over five years, the new contract would result in an extra $188.3 million in spending on physician services compared to the previous contract.
The pay increase for doctors was significant, with compensation rising about 35 per cent over the life of the agreement. The province said it is difficult to make comparisons between the different provincial health systems, but it estimated the new rates would place Island physicians among the top three highest-paid in the country.
November 2024
The provincial government fielded a barrage of questions from opposition parties in the legislature about a non-disparagement clause in Fraser’s contract.
The clause stated that Fraser couldn’t make comments that “defame” or “disparage” the agency or the provincial government “or any of their respective representatives.”
No such language was used in Gardam’s contract.
Health P.E.I. CEO’s non-disparagement clause criticized by opposition MLAs during question period
MLAs questioned the government during Wednesday’s sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature about the non-disparagement clause in the contract of Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser. The opposition says the clause is an attempt to stifle criticism and limit the independence of the health authority. The government says that’s not so. CBC’s Kerry Campbell joins Louise Martin with details.
King acknowledged previous comments he had made about having wanted to fire Gardam in the past, but went on to say he never silenced anyone at Health P.E.I.
“I have never told any CEO or any member of government, any member of my caucus, what to say or how to say it. You’re free to speak whatever you want to speak,” he said.
January 2025
Unions representing health-care workers spoke out after comments Fraser made about privatization and public health-care services during a legislative committee meeting.
“I don’t personally get too fussed about whether someone is private, broader public sector, a university,” Melanie Fraser said on Jan. 22 when discussing a private MRI clinic that was set to open in Summerside.
Fraser said health-care decisions should be good for patients and staff, provide value for money and deliver safe, high quality care — whether it comes from a public or private provider.
But delivery models that allow private companies to “swoop in” to fill gaps in health care are part of the “privatization playbook,” said Ashley Clark, president of CUPE P.E.I., which represents about 1,000 health-care workers.
“I think it’s part of the electoral politics where you want quick wins, you want splashy numbers that look good, you want fast results that hold you over until the next election and you’ll deal with the ramifications later,” Clark said.
“What the evidence shows is that in the long-term, private enterprises are not as effective, they’re not as equitable and they don’t serve the community as well as public services.”
February 2025
Health P.E.I. launched a revamped patient registry, saying its goal is to make it easier and faster to connect Islanders with care providers.
April 2025
Despite a campaign promise made by former premier Dennis King in 2023, the Progressive Conservatives had not fulfilled their goal of eliminating Prince Edward Island’s patient registry waitlist by April 2025.
When King made the commitment in March 2023 to get everyone off the patient registry two years after the election, there were 28,546 people on the registry.
But the waitlist actually grew since the pledge was made. The total number of people on the registry sat at 37,431 as of the end of March 2025.
May 2025
It was revealed that Health P.E.I. had hired six senior managers on an interim basis through private employment agencies at costs ranging from $17,490 a month to $43,750 a month.
That information was contained in a series of contracts the province provided to CBC News.
The managers filled some of the most senior roles at the health agency, including chief medical officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
Why Health P.E.I. is filling some of its most senior jobs with interim employees, and what it costs
Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser says she had no choice but to bring people in to work in executive roles using private employment agencies. That’s because the authority had to “to terminate or end the contracts” for a number of senior managers following a damning auditor general’s report last October. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau explains what it’s costing.
Fraser said the private employment agencies provided experienced staff on a month-to-month basis to keep the health-care system running while she worked to develop a permanent leadership team. She said it was money well spent.
“I think it’s important to compare what we’re paying them month over month versus what we would pay for a salaried professional,” Fraser said.
“When you break that down on a month-over-month basis, it’s basically the same amount that we’re paying the interim person versus what we were paying the previous salaried person.”
Fraser said Health P.E.I. had no choice but to bring people in through private employment agencies after a series of senior managers left following a damning provincial auditor general’s report in October 2024.
That audit showed eight top executives had been given new salaries or raises without proper approval.
July 2025
The Medical Society of P.E.I., the Department of Health and Wellness and Health P.E.I. agreed to begin a mediation process regarding how many patients family doctors can and should handle.
Doctors represented by the medical society had been crying foul over Health P.E.I.’s new operational guide contained in its contract with physicians, also known as the Physician Services Agreement. The document included key performance indicators, or KPIs, that set out a requirement that each family doctor see 24 patients a day, based on an average appointment being 15 minutes long.
Health P.E.I. also wanted a full-time family physician to have 1,600 people on their roster, although Fraser later insisted that was a maximum number, not a minimum as the society understood the phrasing.
The medical society had even threatened legal action, saying it had been sidelined from discussions about the new benchmarks, the targets were unachievable without hurting patient care, and the 1,600-patient goal would drive family doctors from the Island.
October 2025
Fraser provided an update on Health P.E.I.’s efforts to bring more doctors and health-care workers to the Island at a legislative standing committee.
She said Health P.E.I. had increased its physician workforce by 10 per cent over the past two years, with the total number of doctors across all specialties up to 320 from 292.
The patient medical home located at UPEI’s new medical school also opened.
Head of Health P.E.I. says med school concerns must be weighed against building for the future
Just over two months into her job, Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser answered MLAs’ questions about UPEI’s new medical school for the first time during a legislative standing committee. Here, she responds to a question from the Green Party’s Karla Bernard about how the new faculty will improve health care in the province, in both the short and long term. December 2025
The P.E.I. government, Health P.E.I. and the Medical Society of P.E.I. reached a new agreement that set more flexible models for how many patients family doctors can and should handle.
January 2026
A report released by Prince Edward Island’s auditor general, Darren Noonan, prompted Fraser to ask the province’s attorney general to weigh in on whether acts of fraud were committed at the agency.
The incidents outlined in the auditor general’s report happened before Fraser was appointed. Noonan has said Fraser was the one who flagged some of the financial concerns and asked him to investigate.
Auditor General Darren Noonan has flagged several concerns with Health P.E.I.’s spending in recent years. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)
That same month, family doctors raised more concerns with the December memorandum of agreement on workloads.
In a letter, the P.E.I. College of Family Physicians said 77 per cent of doctors who responded to a survey believed the new agreement will drive doctors away from the province and that many were considering changes to their practice that would impact access to care.
“PEICFP recognizes the efforts by all parties to develop the [agreement] and is hopeful that the feedback provided by family doctors will be received in a meaningful way to inform and improve implementation,” Dr. Trina Stewart, the college’s president, said in a news release.
“I, along with the college, remain a willing partner to provide perspective on future family medicine policy and process and encourage the inclusion of frontline family doctors in these discussions.”
February 2026
Three more Prince Edward Island doctors informed Health P.E.I. that they were leaving their practices, leaving 4,500 patients without a primary care provider.
In a public letter, Dr. Heather Austin described her decision to leave the province as one made “with significant deliberation and heartache.” Over the past 18 months, she wrote, working in P.E.I.’s health-care system has become increasingly difficult. She said she cannot continue working for a health authority that treats her and her colleagues “with such ignorant disrespect.”
This family doctor is leaving P.E.I.’s health-care system. Here’s why
One of the three P.E.I. doctors leaving family medicine is speaking out about what led her to resign. Dr. Heather Austin says it has to do with an agreement between doctors, Health P.E.I. and the provincial government. CBC’s Taylor O’Brien shares her story, and Sheehan Desjardins has the political fallout.
Austin said doctors were initially optimistic about the new Physician Services Agreement, calling it “an excellent document.” But she said her issue wasn’t the agreement itself, it’s how Health P.E.I. had implemented it.
She said the intention was for the three parties to roll the agreement out collaboratively, but Health P.E.I. instead acted as though it was the “sole proprietor.”
“The approach that they have taken has demonstrated to me that they don’t understand my work and their implementation approach would be a barrier to me providing good care to my patients,” she said. “They have not listened to our advice.”
March 2026
The province announced Fraser was leaving her role at Health P.E.I., effective immediately.
News of the departure came after 93 Island physicians signed a letter to Lantz, Deagle and Health P.E.I. board chair Richard Wedge saying they have lost confidence in Fraser’s leadership.
Premier Rob Lantz would not confirm whether her contract had been terminated, calling it a “mutual decision.”