Heated dispute over Health P.E.I. benchmarks for family doctors heading for mediation

Carolyn Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 15, 2025 6:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Three of the biggest players successful Prince Edward Island's health-care strategy person agreed to statesman a mediation process regarding however galore patients household doctors tin and should handle. 

In a associated quality merchandise precocious Tuesday, the Medical Society of P.E.I., on with the Department of Health and Wellness and Health P.E.I. said they've been having "meaningful and constructive" conversations "over the past fig of days" astir a controversial side papers to the latest Physician Services Agreement.

"While the mediation process unfolds, government, Health P.E.I. and [the society] volition enactment unneurotic truthful Islanders volition proceed to summation entree to superior attraction services — including those who are presently connected the diligent registry," the associated connection from the radical said. 

"The projected cardinal show indicators volition beryllium paused until resolved done mediation. All parties person besides agreed to an interim patient affiliation plan. This ensures continuity of attraction and reinforces our shared committedness of improving entree for each Islanders."

Over the past six weeks, doctors represented by the aesculapian nine person been crying foul over Health P.E.I.'s caller operational guide. That papers includes cardinal show indicators, oregon KPIs, that set retired a request that each household doc spot 24 patients a day, based connected an mean assignment being 15 minutes long. 

Health P.E.I. besides wanted a full-time household doc to person 1,600 radical connected their roster, though CEO Melanie Fraser aboriginal insisted that was a maximum number, not a minimum arsenic the nine understood the phrasing. 

Supported by the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the aesculapian nine adjacent threatened legal action.

Among different things, they said they had been sidelined from discussions astir the caller benchmarks, the targets were unachievable without hurting diligent care, and the 1,600-patient extremity would thrust household doctors from the Island conscionable months aft the 3 parties had celebrated signing a caller Physician Services Agreement.

That agreement — basically, the doctors' declaration with the province — had boosted the wage of wide practitioners and made household medicine a aesculapian specialty. Dr. Krista Cassell, the president of the Medical Society of P.E.I., had called it "transformational" and "the champion successful the country."

However, that statement had near immoderate issues to beryllium negotiated later, including benchmarks for what occurrence would look like.

"A cardinal pillar of this statement is the shared knowing and committedness that accountability indispensable beryllium astatine each level of the health-care system," Tuesday's connection said. "All parties expect that palmy mediation volition pb to clarity astir the improvement and implementation of KPIs and their associated benchmarks."

The stakes are high. The province's diligent registry, past updated on July 2, says 35,524 radical connected Prince Edward Island bash not person a household doc oregon caregiver practitioner to negociate their wellness attraction arsenic a superior provider.  

The provincial authorities is pinning its hopes connected mounting up a fig of caller aesculapian homes and neighbourhoods — organizational structures that see doctors, caregiver practitioners and different wellness practitioners to triage what benignant of nonrecreational a idiosyncratic needs to spot for a peculiar problem. 

More radical could beryllium affiliated with specified a aesculapian location than an idiosyncratic signifier could handle.

Health P.E.I. has agelong said this would promote doctors to settee successful the state by supporting them and cutting down connected burnout. 

"All parties hold to enactment guardant our corporate champion efforts to proceed to assistance presumption P.E.I. arsenic a nationally competitory and charismatic spot to practise medicine truthful we tin proceed to enlistee caller longitudinal household physicians to P.E.I.," Tuesday's connection said.

As precocious arsenic Monday, representatives from the Medical Society had been scheduled to look astatine Wednesday morning meeting of the legislative lasting committee on wellness and societal improvement to speech astir its concerns. 

By mid-afternoon connected Tuesday, that appearance had been cancelled, though Health P.E.I.'s Fraser is inactive acceptable to speech to the aforesaid MLAs on Wednesday day astir "the cardinal show indicators feedback process, arsenic good arsenic strategical plans for retaining and recruiting doctors."