Opposition hammers PCs, calling 2023 vow to empty P.E.I.'s patient registry 'April Fool's joke'

The governing Progressive Conservatives' broken election promise to clear P.E.I.'s patient registry by this month had MLAs questioning the province's health minister in the legislature Tuesday. 

Opposition politicians also questioned the government's assertion that the Island's health-care system is improving. 

Two years ago, during a provincial election campaign, former premier Dennis King promised to eliminate the registry — the list of people waiting to be assigned to a primary care provider — by April 2025. 

"Islanders didn't realize that was an April Fool's joke, except… no one is laughing," Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly said during question period Tuesday in the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly. 

He aimed this question at Health Minister Mark McLane: "Will you finally admit that the system is broken, mismanaged and nowhere close to meeting its promises?" 

When King made the commitment in March 2023 to get everyone off the patient registry two years after the election, there were 28,546 people on the waitlist.

Rather than dropping though, that number has actually risen more than 30 per cent since the pledge was made. At the end of March, the total number of people on the registry was 37,431. 

I've got one heck of a hole to fill, but... we're starting to do some things and fix this workforce problem.— P.E.I. Health Minister Mark McLane

McLane admitted that eliminating the registry was a "lofty goal" given the province's rapid population growth, but said things are now heading in the right direction. 

He blamed the previous government for not investing enough in the health-care workforce, saying the governing PCs are making a difference through initiatives such as the new UPEI medical school and an increased number of nursing school seats. 

"I've got one heck of a hole to fill, but after 13 years of a Liberal government, we're starting to do some things and fix this workforce problem," McLane said in the legislature. 

The UPEI medical school is scheduled to accept its first cohort of students this fall, but those doctors won't start practising in the health-care system for a decade.

'We're starting to recover'

McLane did say that P.E.I. is recruiting doctors in New England, specifically looking for Canadians who completed their residency in the U.S. and want to come back.

The health minister also pointed to the province's new contract with doctors, which went into effect Tuesday. It includes financial incentives for family doctors that the government hopes will help with recruitment and retention.

Green MLA Matt MacFarlane told the legislature he was foregoing one of his questions during question period to give the health minister the opportunity to apologize for the broken campaign promise — but no apology came. 

"You say momentum is turning and it's about to get better, but you can't repeat that for six years and expect Islanders to continue to believe," MacFarlane said. 

In response, McLane pointed to Canadian Institute for Health Information data that shows P.E.I. is recruiting family physicians at a faster rate than the national average. 

"We're starting to recover, we're seeing it in the data," he said. 

"We're leading the country in family physician growth, so… I will take responsibility for that. We're going in the right direction. We had a 13-year gap and we're starting to fill it now." 

WATCH | Province falls well short on pledge to eliminate P.E.I.'s patient registry:

Province falls well short on pledge to eliminate P.E.I.’s patient registry

23 days ago

Duration 2:26

The deadline is now up on a campaign promise made by former premier Dennis King to eliminate the provincial list of people waiting to be assigned a family doctor. While Health P.E.I. says it’s making progress, some Islanders are losing hope. CBC’s Sheehan Desjardins explains.

McLane wouldn't commit to a new date on getting the patient registry down to a minimal level — saying it will likely never reach zero. 

But a report quietly posted to the province's website two weeks ago did set a new target. It said 100 per cent of Islanders should have access to primary care by March 2026.