Since the beginning of the year, five new physicians in a variety of disciplines have relocated their practices to Prince Edward Island.
During the month of January, Dr. Tom Bronaugh and Dr. Aaron Sibley began treating patients in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital emergency department; Dr. Anna Coolen started practising obstetrics/gynecology in Charlottetown; Dr. Janet Walker was hired at the Cancer Treatment Centre as a medical oncology clinical associate; and anesthesiologist Dr. Vandana Vaishnav joined the team at the Prince County Hospital.
Sibley, who worked as a locum at the QEH emergency department last May, had been living in Edmonton for the past eight years. His sub-specialty is emergency medical services (EMS,) and he worked with ground and air paramedics in Alberta.
He plans to use his experience and training to help advance pre-hospital care in the province.
“This a real solution to rural issues,” he said. “Health care here is well funded, there is great equipment and people are well trained. I don’t know whether they realize it, but Islanders receive a high level of health care.”
Sibley says he enjoys good morale with his new colleagues at the QEH emergency department.
“There is a really collegial atmosphere and good camaraderie with the doctors and a young, enthusiastic nursing staff,” he said. “I knew this would be a place that would be very progressive in emergency care.”
Coolen, who is in her third week of her new obstetrics/gynecology practice at the QEH, says she is also pleased with her decision to set up shop in Prince Edward Island. She and her husband, who is working in orthoptics at the Charlottetown Polyclinic, decided this would be a good place to raise their young family.
“Five new doctors in one month is a testament to the hard work of the Department of Health and Wellness recruitment and retention office and reaffirms that Prince Edward Island is and continues to be a great place to practise medicine,” said Health and Wellness Minister Doug Currie. “Some physicians, like people in any other profession, come and go because they’re in demand across the country. The important thing is that our province continues to attract talented health-care professionals.”
I find it odd that this web site has given "rah rah" coverage to this article and yet the paper has made no mention of the loss of Dr. Midgley, the Island's ONLY vascular surgeon. It has been a week or more since news broke and no mention?