Herb Dickieson
Guest Opinion
While commending Premier Dennis King for his interest and efforts in addressing physician recruitment and retention, it is clear that we must do more, including increasing Island physician residency positions by doubling the number from a mere five at present, and later tripling the positions to integrate young new physicians into our province’s health-care system.
Despite ongoing physician recruitment efforts, thousands of Islanders languish on wait lists and communities press for urgent and longer-term solutions to maintain their medical clinics as well as hospital and ER services.
While attempting to address the immediate physician crisis, we must provide a longer term, and more certain approach to secure medical service for our communities, towns and cities on Prince Edward Island by offering medical education and producing our own doctors right here on the Island as every other province does.
A medical faculty at the University of Prince Edward Island will serve to benefit all Islanders and it is well within our capability. Momentum is building for a medical faculty at UPEI.
First, the need has been expressed over and over by Islanders through the growing wait list for family physicians.
Charlottetown and Summerside city councils, as well as many towns and rural municipalities across the province are also promoting the project as a means of securing medical service and ensuring community viability while allowing further local development.
We are fortunate to have President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz of UPEI, who has experience in establishing a medical faculty in the British Columbia interior, as well as setting up an engineering faculty at UPEI.
His expressed interest in establishing a medical faculty has been reported by Premier King.
At the federal level, Egmont MP Robert Morrissey has publicly endorsed the project and Canada’s New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh has offered to partner with the Island government to build a medical faculty at the University of Prince Edward Island as a way to secure medical service with family doctors for all Islanders.
We need to hear support from all Island federal candidates and their leaders for a medical faculty at UPEI in this fall’s federal election to ensure our MPs will support the project no matter what the election outcome, since success for the medical faculty will require collaboration and financial support at all levels, including municipal, provincial and federal.
Initiation of the medical faculty project is a decision for Premier Dennis King and his cabinet. It is hoped that with the evident need, the growing support across the Island for a medical faculty, and the willingness for participation at all levels, that decision will be made much easier.
Once the go ahead is signalled, a period of planning and negotiations will be required in preparation for the medical faculty roll out.
The sooner we get started, the sooner Islanders will be assured of having a family doctor and Island communities will have a more secure future with medical service for their clinics and hospitals.
Dr. Herb Dickieson is a retired physician and former NDP MLA.
