Longtime patient 'heartbroken' as P.E.I. doctor announces he's closing practice

Ron Flynn said he was "heartbroken" when he received a letter informing him that his family physician, Dr. Hal McRae, was closing his Summerside, P.E.I., practice.

Heartbroken not just because it will leave Flynn and about 2,100 more P.E.I. residents without a doctor by the end of April. But because he considers McRae a friend and "one heck of a good doctor." 

He's known McRae since the doctor was a boy, then a nurse in O'Leary, before insisting that he and his wife become his first patients when he opened his practice in Summerside.

"Nobody should have to give up a job they're well qualified for and love," said Flynn, 73. "He's made a decision and we have to honour his decision, but I feel he's being pushed to where he doesn't want to go."

McRae sent a letter to his patients dated Feb. 7 that says he has made the "very difficult and heartbreaking decision" to close his practice on April 20.

"It has become increasingly challenging to care for patients within the current system, and for me it is no longer sustainable," he said in the letter obtained by CBC.

In an email to CBC, Health P.E.I. said it has not yet been able to recruit a primary care provider for this McRae's patients.

It has become increasingly challenging to care for patients within the current system.— Dr. Hal McRae

"Health P.E.I. acknowledges and is sorry for the frustration and concern this will cause former patients," the email said.

McRae's departure comes as provinces across Canada deal with an increasingly fragile health-care system.

McRae's patients are expected to join the 27,237 already on P.E.I. patient registry. In the meantime, they have been directed to free virtual care via the Maple platform.

Emergency rooms in rural areas of P.E.I. frequently operate on reduced hours due to a lack of hospital staff.

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau increased health-care spending for the provinces. P.E.I. will get an extra $48 million next year.

New chair of Health P.E.I. board

Premier Dennis King has said money alone won't fix the system, and the province needs to explore other ways to deliver health care.

The frustrations in the health-care system have gone beyond the doctors' offices and emergency rooms. In December, the board chair of Health P.E.I. resigned, saying the system will "continue to fail" unless ongoing issues, including hiring practices, are addressed.

In January, former P.E.I. senator Diane Griffin was appointed as the new board chair.

Flynn, who lives in Alberton, said he wishes there was a way to rectify the health system on P.E.I. 

"The system is failing Dr. McRae, it's failing every Islander, it's failing every patient," he said. "It's not that he doesn't care, it's the system doesn't care."

CBC reached out to McRae through Health P.E.I. but he declined an interview request.

In his letter to patients, he said while he will no longer provide "a comprehensive family medicine practice," he plans to "continue to look for ways to provide care to Islanders."

Flynn, meanwhile, said he's not sure what he and the others on the patient registry will do without a family doctor.

"I guess pray we don't get sick."