3 more P.E.I. doctors closing their practices, leaving thousands without a physician

Three more Prince Edward Island doctors have informed Health P.E.I. that they are leaving their practices, leaving 4,500 patients without a primary care provider.

Dr. Heather Austin, Dr. Andrew MacLeod and Dr. Mitchell Stewart have let the provincial health authority know that they're leaving.

MacLeod is retiring from his Montague practice as of May 31, while Stewart will be closing his practice at the Parkdale Medical Centre on April 2. Austin confirmed to CBC News by email that she is resigning from her Summerside practice by summer 2028.

In a letter posted on social media, Austin said she is moving back to Nova Scotia to work as a family physician, a decision she reached "with significant deliberation and heartache."

She said working in P.E.I.'s health-care system over the past 18 months became increasingly difficult.

"I cannot keep working for a health authority that continues to treat me and my fellow physicians with such ignorant disrespect," she wrote. "Were it not for a personal commitment I have chosen to honour, I would have resigned last summer and already left my practice."

Austin goes on to say she has written to Health P.E.I. leadership three times over the past year, highlighting difficulties that family physicians are experiencing.

CBC News was unable to reach MacLeod for an interview, while Stewart's office declined to comment.

The doctors' announcements come as Health P.E.I. warned earlier this week that the provincial health-care system has been operating over its capacity in both acute and long-term care since early January.

In a statement, the health authority said Charlottetown's Queen Elizabeth Hospital hit a new level of overcapacity on Thursday. Patients are being admitted into unconventional spaces — extra beds have been placed in hallways, and staff are now using the hospital's seven-bed eye clinic. 

When the capacity problems began, Health P.E.I. said a major issue was a "high number" of patients who should be at other Island facilities or receiving home care.

In a further statement Thursday in relation to the doctors' departures, Health P.E.I. said it “remains committed to the recruitment and retention” of physicians and recognizes the stress Islanders feel when left without a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

It said there are no doctors currently confirmed to take over either MacLeod or Stewart's practices.

"We continue to set our sights on growing primary care across the Island. One new family physician has begun working with us so far in 2026 and another has been hired and will begin this September," the statement reads.