Documents offer a glimpse into why some PEI doctors chose to leave

Some physicians who have resigned or retired from the Health PEI system in the past year and a half said the workload they faced was unreasonable.

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

Those sentiments are captured in documents made available to CBC News via an information access request requesting government reports and emails related to the layoffs of doctors dating back to early 2022.

During that time, 29 physicians quit their jobs at Health PEI, including 13 who retired and 16 who resigned. That’s about 10 percent of approved doctor positions in the county, currently at 288.6 full-time equivalents.

Six of the doctors who resigned took other jobs within the island’s healthcare system, while the other 10 left the province. Of those 10, five told the agency they were moving to be closer to relatives.

The package of documents included letters of resignation with identifying details about the obscured doctors, as well as an interim summary of what eight of them told Health PEI’s Executive Director of Human Resources during informal exit interviews.

Common themes of those exit interviews included:

• Doctors said their workload and patient volume were unreasonable.
• Complaints about a lack of mental health care, as well as a lack of communication and consultation.
• Allegations of disrespectful behavior by colleagues, including sexism and ageism.
• Complaints about inefficiencies related to PEI’s new electronic health record system.
• Doctors say there is too much political involvement and not enough independence for Health PEI, leaving the agency unable to make operational decisions about the number of doctors to hire, their specialties and where they would work in the county.

On the other hand, physicians interviewed agreed that “compensation is generally competitive,” that they work with “a great team,” and that PEI is “a great place to live.”

Some said the county’s new electronic health record system made life easier, not harder, for them.

‘True regret and genuine sadness’

The resignation letters showed the mixed feelings some doctors had when they decided to quit their jobs.

“Today I am with real regret and real sadness, but also real relief [tendering] my discharge from family and hospital practices in PEI,” someone said.

Another doctor wrote that they decided to step down with a “heart of objection” and after “months of deliberation”.

“This was a fantastic place to work,” they said. “My colleagues are all great, my practice is full of great patients and my work… has been stimulating. I had hoped to practice in PEI until retirement, but I now feel I have no choice but to resign. to take.”

“Leaving this position was a difficult decision for me, but necessary,” said another letter. “I hope I can find a new role within the local health care system.”

Health PEI responds

In an interview on Thursday, Michael Gardam, CEO of Health PEI, said there is nothing surprising in the documents.

Gardam said he agrees that GPs in PEI are overworked and underpaid, and that Health PEI plans to address this when negotiations for a new contract for island doctors begin this fall.

Gardam said plans are in place for doctors to spend less time on paperwork and more time seeing patients.

“We can pay you more, reduce your bureaucracy, emphasize that GPs are very important – because they tend to be at the bottom of the medical hierarchy,” he said.

“There’s a lot we can do there.”