Getting answers about UPEI medical school is Perry's top priority for health committee

MLAs on P.E.I.'s health committee have drawn up a long list of witnesses they plan to call on to talk about plans for the new medical school at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Members of the standing committee on health and social development met Thursday to discuss their priorities heading into the spring session of the legislature that's set to begin Feb. 27.

Opposition leader Hal Perry is leading the push to scrutinize the plans and decision-making that led to development of the medical school, which is slated to accept its first students in the fall of 2025.

The former CEO of Health P.E.I., Dr. Michael Gardam, is at the top of the list of people the Liberal leader wants to bring to the committee. Gardam's time in the CEO's chair ended on Jan. 1, though he'll continue to work with the health authority until the end of March.

Citing the shortage of doctors delivering primary care and specialist services on the Island, Gardam has pointed out: "If they're teaching, they're not seeing patients."

"[Gardam] and the Health P.E.I executive should have been an integral stakeholder in the development of government's plan to establish a medical school here on Prince Edward Island," Perry said. "The fact that the CEO of Health P.E.I. is concerned about the issue… is very concerning to me. It does raise multiple red flags.

"I'd like to see him in here as a priority. What concerns him that the public doesn't know?" 

Perry also sent a letter to committee chair Susie Dillon requesting the appearance of consultants from Spindle Strategy, which was commissioned by Health P.E.I. and the university to report on the medical school's feasibility. 

"I just want to be assured moving forward that the medical school is going to be good for Islanders, that we get our bang for our buck and [that] it also alleviates some of the pressures that we're seeing right now in our health-care system," Perry said.