Tyne Valley, P.E.I., doctor retiring after nearly 50 years in medicine

A Tyne Valley, P.E.I., doctor is hanging up his stethoscope after nearly 50 years in medicine.

Dr. Roy Montgomery has had a long list of accomplishments over his nearly five decades in medicine, including working as a family doctor, an emergency room doctor, and a coroner. He's also the doctor on call for the local manor in Tyne Valley and the detox centre in Alberton.

Montgomery's interest in medicine started while he was in the military. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1963, flying off the aircraft carrier, Bonaventure.

Now 76, he saidhe enjoyed his time in medicine, despite the gruelling hours that come with being a rural physician. He said his work included balancing emergency room coverage with office visits and house calls with many days stretchingwell past midnight.

'There were two of us to run the hospital'

"We had a small hospital and there were two of us to run the hospital and the emergency room," said Montgomery, referring to the now shuttered Stewart Memorial Hospital in Tyne Valley.

"There's 168 hours in a week, so that was divided between us, so on the average, 84 hours a week on call, plus being in the office on our days off."

When the other doctor, the late Dr. Joyce Madagine, got into a car accident, Montgomery was the only doctor at the hospital and in the community for seven weeks.

"I was the only doc, so I just lived in the hospital," said Montgomery, who lives in nearby Birch Hill.

'He was an amazing doctor'

Susan England of Grand River, one of Montgomery's longtime patients, said she's going to miss Montgomery's calm demeanour, compassionate personality, and focus on holistic medicine.

Montgomery has been England's doctor for more than 30 years.

"He would always take the time at the beginning of any kind of examination to talk about what's going on in your life, or your family, he had an amazing memory, an amazing memory," said England.

"You knew as a patient that when you were in the hands of Dr. Montgomery professionally that he would be very good at diagnosing, treatment and any kind of followup plan that was necessary. He was an amazing doctor in that regard."

Montgomery'sdecision to retire leaves another 1,200 West Prince patients without a family doctor, including England.

"We are all wondering what will happen to this clinic, it's a vital part of rural health care in Prince Edward Island," she said.

'Working on strategies to fill his roles'

Health P.E.I. thanked Montgomery for his service to Islanders and wished him an enjoyable retirement.

As for his patients, it said in a statement that "the team is still working on strategies to fill his roles both as a family physician and in community-based care such as long-term care."

Health P.E.I. said it expected to be able to "implement some options soon."

There is a nurse practitioner who works in the Tyne Valley clinic.

'That's too political'

Despite the long days, sometimes as the only doctor in town, Montgomery said medicine today is much more complex than it was when he first started.

As for the state of health care now, Montgomery wouldn't touch that question.

"That's too political for me to talk about."

The community held a retirement party for Montgomery earlier this month.

He is retiring Dec. 31. He saidhe has no big plans, but wants to have a bit more time for himself and his family.

Montgomery said it's hard to predict how successful Health P.E.I. will be in attracting a new doctor to Tyne Valley.

"I grew up here, I grew up in this area, it was sort of like coming home."