Opposition leaders speak out on state of P.E.I.'s health-care system, doctors leaving

The leaders of Prince Edward Island's Liberal and Green parties are calling for changes to how the the provincial government retains doctors after thousands of Islanders recently found out they'll soon be without a primary care provider.

Three family doctors on the Island recently informed Health P.E.I. that they are leaving their practices, affecting 4,500 patients.

Liberal Leader Robert Mitchell said doctors are feeling disrespected by Health P.E.I. and the governing Progressive Conservatives.

He said he has read the letters from Dr. Heather Austin — who announced last week she leaving the province in 2028 to work as a family physician in Nova Scotia — which outlined the increased workloads being placed on doctors.

“I think health care on P.E.I. is … in very bad shape. When you look at the news every day, there's doctors that are feeling disrespected,” Mitchell said. 

“The atmosphere is toxic, they tell me…. We should have the best health care anywhere in the world. It doesn't seem like it's that way. It doesn't seem like it's getting any better.”

At issue for some of the family doctors is workload targets that were initially set out in the Physician Services Agreement — the province's contract with physicians — signed in 2024 by the Department of Health, Health P.E.I. and the Medical Society of P.E.I.

Tensions escalated in early 2025 when physicians raised concerns about a new operational guide contained in the agreement. The medical society even threatened legal action.

The parties entered mediation and, in December 2025, signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) aimed at settling the dispute that set out different patient roster models doctors could choose from — Model A, with 1,600 patients, or Model B, with 1,300.

But some family physicians still take issue with certain metrics in the MOA they must track that don't relate to face-to-face patient visits — like administrative tasks, collaboration and other duties.

Green Party Leader Matt MacFarlane said he's also been hearing from doctors over the past year, especially after the MOA was announced.

“This is not going to incentivize doctors to come to P.E.I., it's not going to keep doctors here. So the path that government has decided to go down with doctors is clearly the wrong path,” he said. 

“I think Islanders are really seeing the damage that's being caused to our physician community.”

MacFarlane said he was surprised Austin went public with her grievances because doctors in the province “have been frightened to come forward” due to the culture at Health P.E.I. and the Department of Health and Wellness.