Health and Social Services Minister Mildred Dover advised today that four new physician positions have been created across the province. They include one anaesthetist position at the Prince County Hospital, and three family physician positions in Eastern Kings, Queens, and East Prince.
Minister Dover advised that the creation of the new positions at a cost of $800,000 annually, combined with the province's new $4.2 million physician recruitment plan will increase access to medical services and strengthen PEI's position in the recruitment market. "Through these initiatives, we are following through on our commitment to ensure we have an adequate supply of physicians now and in future," said the minister, "The additional anaesthetist at PCH will help respond to increasing demands for surgical services. The addition of three new family physicians will help ensure Islanders have continued access to family physician services while helping to reduce heavy workloads and on-call coverage by existing physicians."
Government recently approved the positions which were recommended by the Provincial Physician Resource Planning Committee, a partnership of the Department of Health and Social Services, the health regions and The Medical Society of PEI. The committee has responsibility for making recommendations to the minister on the number and mix of physicians in all regions of the province.
The committee will consider requests for two more new positions later this month, a family physician position in West Prince and a .5 psychiatrist in East Prince. Three new positions were approved last year, a family physician position in Southern Kings, and a .5 radiologist and a full-time anaesthetist in Queens.
Minister Dover advised there has been significant awareness and interest in new provincial recruitment initiatives announced earlier this month. "We have received many inquiries from Island university students interested in medical training as a result of the new training incentives that are now available. The new location grants have also caught the interest of several physicians now considering PEI as a potential location for their practice," said the minister.