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Prince Edward Island is losing another doctor, adding nearly 1,400 people to the provincial patient registry.
Following questions from Kensington-Malpeque MLA Matthew MacKay, Health and Wellness Minister Cory Deagle said in the P.E.I. legislature Wednesday that Dr. Ken White would be leaving his practice at the Kensington Health Centre.
MacKay, who is the area’s MLA, said he had been hearing conversations in the community about the physician leaving and asked if there was any truth to those rumours, to which Deagle confirmed White would be leaving to be closer to family.
“We don’t want to lose any doctors, of course, but that’s a decision they made,” Deagle said.
“And they have asked for privacy with this decision … and we’ll respect that.”
The departure will leave nearly about 1,400 more Islanders without a family physician. Deagle said no one is currently lined up to backfill White’s position. Health P.E.I. confirmed the departure to CBC News, stating White’s last day will be July 3.
Speaking outside of question period, MacKay said the impact of losing a doctor will be felt in the community.
“Anytime a community loses a doctor, especially a family physician, it’s tough,” MacKay said, adding he hopes the area can add a nurse practitioner.
“Nobody wants to lose a physician…. Kensington is a beautiful town. I expect that they should be able to find a doctor to come in there.”
‘It’s their decision’
Speaking with media, Deagle explained White is leaving the country. He said recruitment of family physicians to P.E.I. is continuing but said it has been “extremely difficult.”
“In this case, sometimes physicians do leave for personal reasons or they retire and there’s … not much you can do about that,” he said.
“It’s their decision, which is completely fine.”
P.E.I. Health and Wellness Minister Cory Deagle says adding names to the provincial patient registry is ‘very frustrating.’ (P.E.I. Legislative Assembly)
“Health P.E.I. remains committed to the recruitment and retention of family physicians and nurse practitioners,” the statement from Health P.E.I. reads.
“We remain focused every day on connecting Islanders to high-quality primary care.”
P.E.I.’s patient registry of those waiting for a family physician now stands at just under 35,000. The Island’s population is 182,000.
Deagle said being added to the province’s patient registry “isn’t good news for any Islander,” but pointed to online health-care platform Maple, on which those patients will have free access.
He said adding people to the registry “very frustrating” because it diminishes progress made after patients were previously removed. He said there needs to be a focus on recruiting family physicians.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of progress when the students are graduating from the UPEI medical school and being able to retain them here,” he said.
“But the unfortunate part with that is … we’re probably another five years away, six years away before we see results from that.”
Kensington-Malpeque MLA Matthew MacKay is a patient of Dr. Ken White and will be among those added to the patient registry. (Barry Acton/CBC)
MacKay said he is “in the same boat” — White is his and his family’s doctor, meaning MacKay will also be added to the patient registry.
“I wish Dr. White and his family well, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be stressful on everybody,” MacKay said.
“I can’t speak for every community, but what I can do is basically try my very best to make sure that my constituents’ voice is heard with the health-care system. And I’ll do whatever I can do to mitigate the issue and then see if we can get somebody here soon.”
