From Ireland to the Island: West Prince doctor recruiting colleagues from homeland

An Irish doctor in West Prince is hoping to recruit some physicians to Prince Edward Island from his homeland of Northern Ireland. 

Dr. Declan Fox, who practises at the Tignish Health Centre, is set to retire in September 2019, and he's looking for his replacement — and additional physicians to move to the western part of the province.

"I've been coming here to West Prince for a bit over 18 years, and I love the people here. And I think they deserve better than to be left without enough doctors," he said.

He's been putting recruitment ads in a local newspaper in Northern Ireland, with help from the Tignish Community Co-op board.

"My pitch is: Come here, you've got much less bureaucracy than you have at home. You have much more opportunity to just be a doctor. You've got lots of good people to work with," he said.

"And as well as that, a lovely community."

'We welcome the support'

In an email to CBC, Health PEI confirmed that it's currently recruiting for five vacant family physician positions and one emergency department physician in West Prince — and it's supportive of what Fox is doing.

"We welcome the support and efforts of Dr. Fox in reaching out to physician communities that he is connected to," said Dr. Andre Celliers, the interim executive director of medical affairs with Health PEI.

"It's important that we work together and leverage the connections physicians have to networks and other physicians they know who may be interested in relocating to Prince Edward Island."

Celliers explained that two potential candidates recently visited the region, with more scheduled to visit in the near future. 

'Personal approach'

Being from Northern Ireland, Fox said he hopes that his personal vote of confidence that West Prince is a good place to work might have an impact. 

"I think sometimes the personal approach has an advantage."

Fox has done work on P.E.I. for years, but officially moved here full time in 2014.

"I always enjoyed working here," he said, but he acknowledged that doctors are a scarcity in West Prince, and it can be a challenge to recruit physicians to rural areas.

Fox explained that succession planning is important.

"I think we all have a responsibility to plan ahead, because if we start as we've started — looking for a replacement doctor now — we've certainly got a much better chance of finding one."

'We care about the people'

Fox has not received any responses to his ads yet, but he's hopeful he'll be able to find a replacement before his retirement date.

Next, he plans on expanding his reach to all of Ireland and England. 

"It's because we care about the people up here," he said.

"And, there's also a certain amount of professional pride. We've set this up. We don't want it to end."

More P.E.I. News