The leaders of Prince Edward Island’s Liberal and Green parties are calling for changes to how the the provincial government retains doctors after thousands of Islanders recently found out they’ll soon be without a primary care provider.

Three family doctors on the Island recently informed Health P.E.I. that they are leaving their practices, affecting 4,500 patients.

Liberal Leader Robert Mitchell said doctors are feeling disrespected by Health P.E.I. and the governing Progressive Conservatives.

He said he has read the letters from Dr. Heather Austin — who announced last week she leaving the province in 2028 to work as a family physician in Nova Scotia — which outlined the increased workloads being placed on doctors.

“I think health care on P.E.I. is … in very bad shape. When you look at the news every day, there’s doctors that are feeling disrespected,” Mitchell said. 

“The atmosphere is toxic, they tell me…. We should have the best health care anywhere in the world. It doesn’t seem like it’s that way. It doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better.”

WATCH | This family doctor is leaving P.E.I.’s health-care system. Here’s why:

This family doctor is leaving P.E.I.’s health-care system. Here’s why

One of the three P.E.I. doctors leaving family medicine is speaking out about what led her to resign. Dr. Heather Austin says it has to do with an agreement between doctors, Health P.E.I. and the provincial government. CBC’s Taylor O’Brien shares her story, and Sheehan Desjardins has the political fallout.

At issue for some of the family doctors is workload targets that were initially set out in the Physician Services Agreement — the province’s contract with physicians — signed in 2024 by the Department of Health, Health P.E.I. and the Medical Society of P.E.I.

Tensions escalated in early 2025 when physicians raised concerns about a new operational guide contained in the agreement. The medical society even threatened legal action.

The parties entered mediation and, in December 2025, signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) aimed at settling the dispute that set out different patient roster models doctors could choose from — Model A, with 1,600 patients, or Model B, with 1,300.

But some family physicians still take issue with certain metrics in the MOA they must track that don’t relate to face-to-face patient visits — like administrative tasks, collaboration and other duties.

‘The wrong path’

Green Party Leader Matt MacFarlane said he’s also been hearing from doctors over the past year, especially after the MOA was announced.

“This is not going to incentivize doctors to come to P.E.I., it’s not going to keep doctors here. So the path that government has decided to go down with doctors is clearly the wrong path,” he said. 

“I think Islanders are really seeing the damage that’s being caused to our physician community.”

MacFarlane said he was surprised Austin went public with her grievances because doctors in the province “have been frightened to come forward” due to the culture at Health P.E.I. and the Department of Health and Wellness.

He said he has had “tearful conversations” with physicians who have reached their limit.

“I think that speaks to the seriousness of where we’re at when we now have doctors speaking out publicly, sharing on Facebook the challenges that they’re facing,” he said. “That’s the seriousness of where we’re at right now.”

WATCH | Dr. Heather Austin talk about why she’s leaving her Summerside practice:

Dr. Heather Austin talks about why she’s leaving her Summerside practice

A family medicine physician on the Island since 2011, Dr. Heather Austin says she has no choice but to close her Summerside practice over what she calls disrespect toward doctors from Health P.E.I. She sat down with CBC’s Taylor O’Brien to discuss what went into her decision

Speaking about the departing doctors — Austin, Dr. Andrew MacLeod and Dr. Mitchell Stewart — Mitchell said next steps should involve provincial officials learning from them as to their reasons for leaving.

“I’m not sure that listening has been very effective as of late,” Mitchell said. 

“We have to hear their message and then work with that to make sure that changes are made. But we have to do that right across the board with all frontline health professionals.”