Documents offer glimpse into why some P.E.I. doctors chose to leave

Some of the doctors who resigned or retired from the Health P.E.I. system over the past year and a half said the workloads they faced were unreasonable.

Others pointed to what they saw as an overly bureaucratic health-care system with too much government involvement.

Those feelings are captured in documents made available to CBC News through an access to information request that asked for government reports and emails related to doctor resignations going back to the start of 2022.

During that time, 29 doctors left their jobs with Health P.E.I., including 13 who retired and 16 who resigned. That's about 10 per cent of the approved doctor positions in the province, currently sitting at 288.6 full-time equivalents. 

Six of the doctors who resigned took other jobs within the Island's health-care system, while the other 10 left the province. Of those 10, five told the agency they were relocating to be closer to family members.

The package of documents included resignation letters with identifying details about the doctors blacked out, as well as an interim summary of what eight of them told Health P.E.I.'s executive director of human resources during informal exit interview conversations.

Common themes of those exit interviews included:  

• Doctors saying their workloads and patient volumes were unreasonable.
• Complaints about a lack of mental health supports, as well as a lack of communication and consultation.
• Allegations of disrespectful behaviour from colleagues, including sexism and ageism. 
• Complaints about inefficiencies related to P.E.I.'s new electronic medical records system.
• Doctors saying there's too much political involvement and not enough independence for Health P.E.I., leaving the agency unable to make operational decisions on the number of physicians hired, their specialties, and where they would work in the province.

On the other hand, doctors interviewed agreed that "the compensation is generally competitive," that they're working with "a great team" and that P.E.I. is "a great place to live."

Some said the province's new electronic medical records system was making life easier for them, not harder. 

'Real regret and genuine sadness'

The resignation letters showed the mixed feelings some doctors had as they decided to walk away from their jobs.

"Today, with real regret and genuine sadness, but also in truth a real relief, I am [tendering] my resignation from family and hospital practice in P.E.I.," one said. 

Another doctor wrote they decided to resign with a "heavy heart" and following "months of deliberation."

"This was a fantastic place to work," they said. "My colleagues are all amazing, my practice is full of wonderful patients and my job ... was stimulating. I had hoped to practise in P.E.I. until retirement but I now feel that I have no choice but to resign." 

"Leaving this position has been a difficult decision for me, but necessary," another letter said. "I hope that I may find a new role within the local health-care system." 

Health P.E.I. reacts

In an interview Thursday, Health P.E.I. CEO Michael Gardam said there's nothing surprising in the documents.

Gardam said he agrees family doctors in P.E.I. are overworked and underpaid, and that Health P.E.I. plans to address that as negotiations on a new contract for Island physicians begin this fall.

Gardam said there are plans to get doctors to spend less time on paperwork, and more time on seeing patients.

"We can pay you more, make your bureaucracy less, highlight the fact that family doctors are a really big deal — because on the medical hierarchy they're typically at the bottom of the heap," he said. 

"There's a lot we can do there."