Henderson said there are currently two physician vacancies in West Prince, and a third physician is currently on leave.
“It is a real challenge to get them to come and stay here,” Henderson said.
Remuneration, he noted, is usually not the issue. Sometimes it’s a matter of the spouse of the physician not being able to find work in the same area.
While Henderson said there are only 562 West Prince residents on the provincial registry identified as being in need of a family physician, he admitted that’s not a really enticing number to a physician who is considering moving to the area.
However, the number does not include former patients of Dr. Filza Naveed who resigned from her practice in March. Her panel of patients is being maintained by the Alberton Health Centre for six months in hopes a physician can be found to take over.
Provincewide, Henderson said there are 6,900 on the patient registry and the department continues to try to lower that number. He said the five to nine per cent of Islanders on the registry is low compared to other provinces where the average is around 15 per cent.
He said there was a doctor using up a West Prince billing number but practising in Summerside. That situation has been resolved through the master agreement, thus making the second vacancy in West Prince official.
With Dr. Herb Dickieson on leave, that leaves West Prince currently down three physicians.
Henderson said they hope to work through that situation, but declined to provide more detail.
The annual meeting was held in the O’Leary Health Centre’s primary care waiting room. A notice posted there advised that the physician covering for Dickieson is not accepting new patients.
Henderson said locums, nurse practitioners and other professionals are helping to make up for the physician shortage, while recruitment efforts continue.
There are two nurse practitioners supporting the physicians in West Prince, and Henderson hopes to add a third this year.
