{"id":310333,"date":"2026-03-03T03:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T03:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/310333\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T03:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T03:22:09","slug":"opposition-leaders-speak-out-on-state-of-p-e-i-s-health-care-system-doctors-leaving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/310333\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition leaders speak out on state of P.E.I.’s health-care system, doctors leaving"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The leaders of Prince Edward Island’s Liberal and Green parties are calling for changes to how the the provincial government retains doctors after thousands of Islanders recently found out they’ll soon be without a primary care provider.<\/p>\n

Three family doctors on the Island recently informed Health P.E.I. that they are leaving their practices<\/a>, affecting 4,500 patients.<\/p>\n

Liberal Leader Robert Mitchell said doctors are feeling disrespected by Health P.E.I. and the governing Progressive Conservatives. <\/p>\n

He said he has read the letters from Dr. Heather Austin \u2014 who announced last week she leaving the province in 2028 to work as a family physician in Nova Scotia \u2014 which outlined the increased workloads being placed on doctors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think health care on P.E.I. is \u2026 in very bad shape. When you look at the news every day, there’s doctors that are feeling disrespected,\u201d Mitchell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere is toxic, they tell me\u2026. We should have the best health care anywhere in the world. It doesn’t seem like it’s that way. It doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | This family doctor is leaving P.E.I.’s health-care system. Here’s why:\"\"<\/p>\n

This family doctor is leaving P.E.I.’s health-care system. Here\u2019s why<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Taylor O’Brien shares her story, and Sheehan Desjardins has the political fallout. <\/p>\n

At issue for some of the family doctors is workload targets that were initially set out in the Physician Services Agreement \u2014 the province’s contract with physicians \u2014 signed in 2024 by the Department of Health, Health P.E.I. and the Medical Society of P.E.I.<\/p>\n

Tensions escalated in early 2025 when\u00a0physicians raised concerns<\/a>\u00a0about a new operational guide contained in the agreement. The medical society\u00a0even threatened legal action<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The parties entered mediation and, in December 2025,\u00a0signed a memorandum of agreement<\/a>\u00a0(MOA) aimed at settling the dispute that set out different patient roster models doctors could choose from \u2014 Model A, with 1,600 patients, or Model B, with 1,300. <\/p>\n

But some family physicians still take issue with certain metrics in the MOA<\/a> they must track that don’t relate to face-to-face patient visits \u2014 like administrative tasks, collaboration and other duties. <\/p>\n

‘The wrong path’<\/p>\n

Green Party Leader Matt MacFarlane said he’s also been hearing from doctors over the past year, especially after the MOA was announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not going to incentivize doctors to come to P.E.I., it’s not going to keep doctors here. So the path that government has decided to go down with doctors is clearly the wrong path,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Islanders are really seeing the damage that’s being caused to our physician community.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacFarlane said he was surprised Austin went public with her grievances because doctors in the province \u201chave been frightened to come forward\u201d due to the culture at Health P.E.I. and the Department of Health and Wellness.<\/p>\n

He said he has had \u201ctearful conversations\u201d with physicians who have reached their limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that speaks to the seriousness of where we’re at when we now have doctors speaking out publicly, sharing on Facebook the challenges that they’re facing,” he said. “That’s the seriousness of where we’re at right now.”<\/p>\n

WATCH | Dr. Heather Austin talk about why she’s leaving her Summerside practice:\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr. Heather Austin talks about why she’s leaving her Summerside practice<\/p>\n

A family medicine physician on the Island since 2011, Dr. Heather Austin says she has no choice but to close her Summerside practice over what she calls disrespect toward doctors from Health P.E.I. She sat down with CBC’s Taylor O’Brien to discuss what went into her decision<\/p>\n

Speaking about the departing doctors \u2014 Austin, Dr. Andrew MacLeod and Dr. Mitchell Stewart \u2014 Mitchell said next steps should involve provincial officials learning from them as to their reasons for leaving. <\/p>\n

“I’m not sure that listening has been very effective as of late,\u201d Mitchell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to hear their message and then work with that to make sure that changes are made. But we have to do that right across the board with all frontline health professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-310333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}