1 out of 29,546: An Islander reflects on life without a family doctor

Jenn McCormick fondly remembers having a family doctor.

"It was great. Through that doctor's office I had access to a therapist and a nurse practitioner who was really helping me out a lot with some medical issues I was having," she said.

Those days are behind her. McCormick found out her doctor was leaving by reading an article in the newspaper.Dr. George Carruthers had a roster of 3,600 patients before he retired in October of 2020.

"Just kind of suddenly, the doctor decided to leave the practice," said McCormick, who lives in Charlottetown.

McCormick isone of the 29,546 people on Prince Edward Island'spatient registrywho are waiting to be assigned to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. It's been taking 10 years or more for people to get a new doctor.McCormick has been waiting a relatively short two and a half years.

"If I'm not feeling well or I need something, I have to go to a clinic or the emergency room," she said.

Like thousands of others on the list, she has shown up at walk-in clinics that were completely full and had no space for her."With the emergency room? Amuch longer wait there."

That's why McCormick has been avoiding the emergency department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Island's largest health-care facility.

"Some people just don't want to sit in a waiting room for 12 hours unless there is a, you know, significant reason to be there The last time I was there, I think I waited between 10 to 12 hours to see a doctor," she said.

According to Health P.E.I. three doctors have been hired since the start of 2023. However, five doctors have resigned since the new year.

• Dr. Hal McRae sent a letter to his patients dated Feb. 7, saying he had made the "very difficult and heartbreaking decision" to close his practice on April 20.
• Dr. Nicole Drost and Dr. Colin Turner have put in their resignations effective May 10. Both workin internal medicine at the Prince County Hospital.
• Dr. Alexander McKinnon and Dr. Thor Christensen have submitted resignations from their family practice positions in Montague. Christensen will leave his practice in late May. McKinnon will leave in late June.

If nothing changes, more doctors will choose to leave, says the president of the Medical Society of P.E.I.

Dr. Krista Cassellsaid the way health care is delivered here needs to be different and that's nothappening fast enough.

"It happens slowly. All change happens slowly. And we need it to happen much faster," she said."We need it to look much different and it has to be a much bolder change than what we've seen.

"Most of these issues are things that we can remedy a workload that is too high, lack of admin support or lack of nursing support, administrative burden," she said.

"Things like forms that need to be filled out the process around shadow billing, for example, to prove that we're working as doctors."

Right now, McCormick is in good health, but she worries about others in her extended family.

I get concerned about my niece and nephew who nolonger have a doctor. Jenn McCormick

While her mother has a doctor, she worriesshe could lose that care at any time, she said.

As well, she said, "I get concerned about my niece and nephew who nolonger have a doctor. They are young children."