Patients of unvaccinated N.B. doctors scramble to find primary care

With their unvaccinated doctors suspended, many New Brunswickers are now scrambling to find primary care in a province already desperate for more family doctors.

Kate Proctor and her family are among them. 

"We have been left in the dark this whole time about her vaccine status, and she has closed her office indefinitely without notifying her patients," Proctor said. 

The 41-year-old Moncton woman only found out when she went to the pharmacy to fill a prescription after being released from hospital. She was told her doctor had lost her prescribing privileges.  

Proctor is now scrambling to find another doctor — along with tens of thousands of other New Brunswickers. She doesn't even know how to access her medical records. 

The New Brunswick College of Physicians and Surgeons has not identified the unvaccinated doctors or said where they practise, but they're all with Horizon Health. The college also hasn't provided the specific number but said "fewer than 10" have been suspended.

Lack of useful information from the college and the suspended doctors has just increased the anxiety for patients, according to two who were interviewed by CBC News. 

A recording at Proctor's doctor's office said it is closed indefinitely and to check back "periodically" for updates. 

Proctor wishes there had been more transparency about the college's move to suspend the doctors.

She believes the college should have named the doctors and had a plan in place for how to deal with the patients who were then left without primary care. 

It makes me seriously question the health care that she would be providing us.- Kate Proctor

Last week, the registrar, Dr. Ed Schollenberg, said the college discussed naming the doctors but decided against it. He declined further comment when contacted on Monday and Tuesday.

At the very least, Proctor said, suspended doctors should have notified their own patients. 

Most are finding out when they make appointments, when filling prescriptions, or when tests are being cancelled by hospitals. 

Proctor has called around but hasn't had any luck finding another doctor. She worries about not having a doctor for her two children, one of whom has ongoing health issues. 

Surprised doctor was unvaccinated

Proctor said it never occurred to her that her doctor could be unvaccinated. 

"I assumed that she would take that seriously and get vaccinated, and I honestly thought that she was required to," she said. 

Schollenberg said doctors will be reinstated after they are fully vaccinated. 

But Proctor said it might not be that simple for her. She said she's lost confidence in her family doctor.

"It makes me seriously question the health care that she would be providing us ongoing, even if she did reinstate by getting vaccinated. I would really wonder about her level of knowledge of medicine."

The number of patients now left without a family doctor isn't clear. Even the registrar of the college wasn't sure when asked last week. 

Schollenberg said two of the suspended doctors are family doctors with regular practices, and one saw military veterans almost exclusively. 

Douglas resident Glenn McEachern is one of the veterans left without a primary-care provider. 

"I am just one military veteran among thousands," said McEachern, 59, who was medically released from the military in 2003 after suffering injuries in an on-duty accident. 

He's suffered from chronic pain ever since. 

McEachern said his condition was improving since switching family doctors about a year ago. He said he switched after hearing good things through the military grapevine. Other patients were pleased with the care they had received and appreciated the doctor's approach to the unique needs of veterans. 

"There's a wide variety of characteristics, but overall we deal with reality, and we do not tolerate exaggeration. So when we say that our physical condition is X, it's probably X squared," explained McEachern, adding that most doctors would assess it as "half X." 

"Primarily, he's given me hope," said McEachern. 

Now he's running out — of hope and medication.

When my prescriptions run out, they're gone.- Glenn McEachern

"When my prescriptions run out, they're gone," he said. "I had no warning, so I couldn't get a maximum amount of refills written out. I have no refills for some of this stuff, like high blood pressure.

"Truthfully, I don't know what I'm going to do. I think I'm boxing at the wind here. I'm trying to push rope. I don't think I'm going to get anywhere. Too many people. Too many needs." 

He said it's especially cruel for veterans to lose their family doctor. 

"[We] incurred these injuries that we would not otherwise have had, if we had not enlisted, if we had not served this country."

McEachern wonders why doctors couldn't have been allowed to continue to provide virtual care. 

But Schollenberg, the registrar for the college, said it's not just about patients being protected from transmission of COVID-19. 

"You can't encourage patients to get vaccinated if you don't get vaccinated yourself," Schollenberg said week just before the suspensions took effect. 

McEachern said he found out his doctor was suspended when the hospital called to cancel a test that had been scheduled for two months. 

McEachern said he's being treated for major depressive disorder, and severe post-traumatic stress disorder — both a result of his military service and directly related to the physical injuries he suffered while on duty. 

"It all started as a reactive depression, you know, secondary to my physical conditions. Without treatment for my physical conditions, these reactive conditions — already severe — are worsening."

McEachern hopes that he can find another family doctor before the first of his many prescriptions runs out in two weeks. 

McEachern's doctor was asked for comment but did not respond to a message left with someone at his Fredericton clinic.

How to access medical records

Dr. Mark MacMillan, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, said a patient's chart should be accessible to them.

He said anyone having difficulty reaching their family doctor should reach out to the College of Physicians and Surgeons for advice on how to access their records from physicians who may not even be answering the phone.