Thousands of P.E.I. patients left looking for family doctors as physicians leave practices

Maria Sarrouh reports on the strain facing Prince Edward Island’s primary care systems as three more doctors leave the island.

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Thousands of patients on Prince Edward Island are set to lose their family doctor after three physicians announced plans in recent weeks to leave, close or retire from their practices, adding pressure to one of the most strained primary care systems in the country.

In Summerside, Dr. Heather Austin said her decision was made after “significant deliberation and heartache.” While the family physician has loved her work on the Island, she says operating within the system has become increasingly challenging, particularly in the last year, in part due to the provincial health authority’s treatment of her and colleagues.

“It comes down to the relationship and the lack of respect that we have been shown,” Austin said in an interview at her clinic, Sea Isle Medical. “I think they need to listen to us.”

Austin has nearly 1,400 patients who will need to find a new family doctor when she relocates her practice to Nova Scotia in a couple years.

Two other physicians have recently stepped away, leaving thousands more in the lurch. Dr. Andrew MacLeod, who could not be reached before this story was published, is retiring at the end of May. Dr. Mitchell Stewart’s office declined to comment beyond confirming he has already left his practice.

The departures come as more than 33,000 people are already on Health P.E.I.’s waitlist for a family doctor or nurse practitioner. The latest numbers from Statistics Canada suggest the Island has the lowest share of adults (73.1 per cent) and children (77.7 per cent) with a regular health-care provider.

“I felt that I can’t continue to work in the way that I feel I need to, to care for my patients. And I needed to make a change,” Austin said.

At the centre of her frustration is the province’s Physician Services Agreement. While she says the document itself is “fantastic,” its rollout by Health P.E.I. shows a “lack of understanding” of how doctors do their work.

In 2024, after months of consultations, the Medical Society of P.E.I., Health P.E.I. and the provincial government signed the landmark document. It made the Island the first province to recognize family medicine as a specialty, promised a 35 per cent pay bump over five years and offered “one of the most competitive physician compensation packages in Canada.”

Dr. David Antle, another family doctor in Summerside, said there was much optimism about the agreement initially.

“It was going to really buoy recruitment and help us stabilize the workforce,” Antle said.

The root of the agreement, he added, was the idea of a “tripartite structure” in which all parties would have a say in its implementation.

But in the summer of 2025, doctors said they were “blindsided” by a draft operating guide released by Health P.E.I. The proposal called on family physicians to take on 24 appointments per day, at an average of 15 minutes each and about 1,600 patients per doctor.

The Medical Society of P.E.I. - which represents doctors - said it was shut out of the decision-making process and even threatened legal action.

“It made everybody very frustrated. But going through the appropriate channels and trying to voice concerns never went anywhere,” Antle said. “Multitudes of letters were sent by many, many family physicians, and that left everybody feeling unheard, disrespected and undervalued.”

Austin herself sent three letters to Health P.E.I. leadership in the past year.

At the time, Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser told CTV News that 1,600 patients was a maximum, not a minimum, with panel sizes tailored to doctors’ practices.

According to Canada’s College of Family Physicians, the average panel size is 1,351 patients.

The three parties entered a mediation process over the dispute, and in December 2025, signed a memorandum of agreement.

It lays out four practice models for family doctors, but for most, the main choice is between two. In Model A, doctors are expected to carry about 1,600 patients (adjusted to their hours). In Model B, the baseline is about 1,300 patients.

If a doctor falls short of the minimum targets, Health P.E.I. can move them into a formal improvement process.

The deal also ties financial incentives to larger patient rosters over 1,600 for doctors who meet other requirements.

“I can’t work any harder than I’ve been working,” Austin said. “An incentive to ask me to do more is a disincentive.”

Antle said the targets are reasonable “on paper” and that affiliating patients is an important goal for the health system, but “every practice is different.”

“Someone might have an older panel of patients that require more time. Some might have a heavier mental health case burden,” Antle said.

Antle was part of the group that negotiated the option for a 1,300-patient panel baseline. He said it could deliver the accountability metrics Health P.E.I. and the provincial government want, while giving physicians time for the other work that keeps P.E.I.’s rural health-care system running.

But Antle said the way the agreement is being implemented by leadership has, once again, “opened up a lot of old wounds.”

In a news release issued Monday, Health P.E.I.’s board of directors said that in the past month alone, the authority held more than 60 individual meetings and several town halls to hear physician perspectives and identify opportunities to strengthen its approach.

The board said it will convene an advisory panel in March to provide a structured forum doctors to offer specific suggestions to “improve working relationships and rebuild trust.” It’s expected to wrap by the end of August, with report containing practical recommendations.

“I don’t think that’s enough,” Antle said. “We still feel like there’s going to be a top-down mandate … and physicians won’t be given meaningful voices.”

However, he added it seems a clearer picture is forming on physicians’ frustrations, particularly after a small group of doctors met with P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz and acting Health Minister Cory Deagle last week.