Patients feel 'abandoned' as Health PEI unable to find doctor for large practice

Daniel McMaster says he went into his doctor's office on Queen Street in Charlottetown to get his prescription refilled to discover the medical practice was closed. 

McMaster has COPD, a lung condition that causes breathing difficulties. His friend and roommate is a stroke survivor. 

"We need to be monitored so it's really disheartening for us to find out that we no longer have a doctor," McMaster said.  

"We actually feel abandoned because not only were we lied to in the beginning, they assured us a doctor was coming, but now they basically threw us out in the cold and said 'You're on your own.'"

McMaster is one of a growing list of Islanders without a family doctor.

His doctor, Dr. George Carruthers, retired in October 2020.

The province had a series of doctors and nurse practitioners to cover the practice, but that fell apart last week.

'This practice has proven to be unsustainable'

In a statement to CBC News, Health PEI said "Despite successful recruitment of several physicians and nurse practitioner support, with more than 3,500 patients, this practice has proven to be unsustainable for a new physician to take over. One family physician who practices with an experienced [nurse practitioner] can typically care for less than 2,300 clients."

Health PEI added that after a careful review it has determined "the only course of action is to close this clinic, which leaves the majority of patients of Dr. Carruthers's former practice without a primary care provider."

Mike MacDonald of Charlottetown said he and his family are now without a family doctor. He said they were patients of Carruthers for more than 10 years.

MacDonald has an appointment at the clinic next week and he hasn't been told that his appointment has been cancelled. 

"Here we are, I have an ongoing medical condition of my own that is managed and manageable but if something ever happens, who do I see?," said MacDonald.

"My wife is a patient. I have two small children under the age of seven that are patients, I have a mother- and father-in-law in their mid-to-late 60s that are patients that have health issues so we are all very concerned."   

CBC News reached out to Carruthers for comment but did not hear back.

'This saddens me deeply'

In a letter to Island pharmacists, Carruthers said, "it was never my intent that my patients would be abandoned." He went on to say he was told he would be replaced by two doctors and two nurse practitioners. 

"This saddens me deeply not only for the patients but for the effect it has beyond them and myself," he wrote. 

Health PEI said it will keep the names of Carruthers's former patients together and they will be assigned new doctors if, or when, they become available.

That will prevent them from going on the patient registry, which already has more than 17,000 people on it and is still dealing with patients who put their name on the list back in 2014. 

'We're going to be seeing a strange doctor'

A Health PEI physician or nurse practitioner will follow up with any of Carruthers's patients who had urgent or critical bloodwork and X-rays. 

The province said a phone line is also being established for urgent, but non-emergency-medical-related, questions or concerns. Patients will be able to leave a message and a Health PEI staff member will call them back. 

Other than that, patients will have to access care through the virtual care clinic, known as Maple, call 8-1-1 or visit a walk-in clinic. 

McMaster said he's not looking forward to a walk-in clinic. He said the province should give pharmacists more authority to fill prescriptions for those who do not have a family doctor. 

"The real difficult part is going to be going to a walk-in clinic for a medication refill, we're going to be seeing a strange doctor who doesn't know us from a hole in the wall and to convince them to disburse medications, I mean, without any proof that's going to be difficult." 

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