Some P.E.I. patients waiting many months for psychiatric services

People who need psychiatric services in Prince Edward Island are waiting months because of a shortage of doctors with that specialization.

Dr. Javier Salabarria, the provincial medical director for mental health and addictions with Health P.E.I., says the province has more psychiatrists now than it did when he started more than six years ago. 

But with a growing population, and plans for a new medical school based at UPEI, he acknowledges the need is only going to grow. 

"We do have a wait list, and that wait list, depending on the triaging, can certainly be fairly long, unfortunately," Salabarria told CBC News. "The more urgent ones [wait] somewhere in the range of a few months, and the less urgent ones can be fairly extensive, even six to nine months."

Health P.E.I. currently has the equivalent of 16 full-time psychiatrists; 12 working with patients outside a hospital setting and four working with people admitted for care. 

The agency says it should have 26, meaning the system is short at least 10 full-time psychiatrists. 

But a 2023 report predicting future human resource shortfalls in P.E.I.'s health-care system, known as the Peachey report, indicates Health P.E.I. will need as many as 36 psychiatrists over the next decade to deal with the province's increasing population and the new medical school at UPEI. 

'A major, major loss'

Psychiatric services on the Island took a hit after the retirement of one long-serving psychiatrist and the sudden death of Dr. Angus Beck earlier this month. 

Beck alone had about 200 patients. One of them, Ellen Taylor, described his death as a "major, major loss" to the system. 

"A lot of people were referred back to their family doctor, which then puts them behind the eight ball for services again because they're back at the bottom of the list," said Taylor, who advocates for better mental health care on the Island. 

"Trying to access meds has been difficult because they're not able to get that at a walk-in clinic, so they're trying to figure a way around that … and just the relationship of the psychiatrist [to the] patient is really hard to re-establish."  

Taylor worries about wait times that stretch into months.

When people who have been struggling finally decide to reach out for help, she pointed out, "it's so important for the hand to be there."

'There was a lot of interest'

Health Minister Mark McLane said the province continues to work to recruit new doctors, including psychiatrists, with efforts including a recent trip to the United States.

"There was a lot of interest in the U.S. conference that Dr. Salabarria attended on our behalf," said McLane. "P.E.I. is a great place to practise."

Salabarria said he knows of one psychiatrist visiting the Island in the next couple of weeks who may consider working here, and two or three more have also expressed some interest. 

"Our investments in mental health, again with the new facilities, I think are very attractive too," McLane went on. "We will break ground on the new hospital very soon and that will be another recruitment tool for us."  

'That's a game changer'

The minister was talking about a series of new buildings in the works to replace aging facilities in and around Hillsborough Hospital in Charlottetown. 

Two buildings have already been completed. Construction on the new Hillsborough Hospital is expected to begin this year and be completed in 2027. Work on the new mental health and additions wellness and transition centre is also scheduled to start this year and be completed in 2026.

Once those are complete, provincial officials confirm addictions treatment services now offered in Mount Herbert, nine kilometres east of Charlottetown, will be moved to the new campus in the provincial capital.

Salabarria said the hospital — and the new medical school — will both be key tools to recruit badly needed psychiatrists to the province.

In fact, his face lights up when he talks about the new hospital.

"That's a game changer," he said.

"I think that's going to be a huge, huge benefit towards recruitment. Not only do we have the new building, which is very important, but we also have new programs."