2 internal medicine physicians at Prince County Hospital submit resignations

Health P.E.I. confirms that it has received resignation documentsfrom two of the three internal medicine physicians who currently work at Prince County Hospital in Summerside.

CBCNews has confirmedthat Dr. Nicole Drost and Dr. Colin Turner have put in their resignations effective May 10.

Including Drost and Turner, there are only three internal medicine physicians working at the hospital, since a fourth one is on leave.This kind of doctor willdiagnose and treat ailments involving the body's internal systems, including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and lung disease.

The hospital has five funded positions for internal medicine in total and one additional approved position, according to Health P.E.I.

Unless managers are able to fill some of the jobs before Drost and Turner leave,only one internal medicine specialist will be left working at the hospital in just eight weeks' time.

"Health P.E.I. is developing contingency plans to take effect at that time,"Health P.E.I. officials said in an email to CBC News on Monday.

"Active recruitment for internal medicine physicians, including permanent positions and short-term and long-term locums, is ongoing."

Several doctor resignations

The resignations follow several others from P.E.I.'s medical community over the last 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. Kris Saunders, Dr. Ray Cooke and Dr. Jocelyn Peterson all left their family practicesbetween June and July of 2022.

There are currently more than 28,500 people on P.E.I.'s patient registry, waiting for a family doctor or nurse practitioner to provide them with primary care.