CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A retired Tignish doctor will return to P.E.I. for a six-week period beginning in January, Health Minister James Aylward told the legislature on Thursday.
Aylward confirmed this after questions from Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry about plans to recruit a new doctor to replace Dr. Declan Fox.
“When can my community expect a full-time replacement?” Perry asked.
Aylward said the province is aiming to bring a nurse practitioner to Tignish, and has also employed telemedicine services, in which a remote doctor can see patients through a skype-like connection. Aylward also noted the plan for Fox’s return.
"We came to an agreement as well with Dr. Fox, who is currently now residing in his home country of Ireland, who is actually doing telehealth. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Fox is going to come back, I believe, for a six- or a seven-week period as early as January to do a locum," Aylward said.
Perry continued to press Aylward on the need for a full-time replacement for Fox.
"He used to see 40 patients a day, five days a week. Now he virtually sees an average of nine patients a day. And he's only doing it one day a week," Perry said.
"The minister said, back when he was the health critic in 2017, a virtual doctor is just a stop-gap measure. So what is the minister doing to stop (saddling) Tignish with stop-gap measures and find a permanent replacement doctor?"
Aylward responded with a document that he then tabled, that outlined the provinces recruitment and retention efforts in recent months.
The document included a list of measures, including the development of a physician resource plan, in order to guide future health-care staffing. The development of the plan was recommended by the Medical Society of P.E.I. during the last election.
In an interview, however, Perry was skeptical Fox would be returning to Tignish during his locum.
"The Tignish Health Centre has not been informed of that. They knew that he may be coming back as a locum for four to five weeks in January/February, but location indeterminate," Perry said.
In an interview, Aylward said Fox would be working “out of western P.E.I.” during his locum in January.
Aylward also addressed Perry’s comments about tele-medicine. He said the work of the tele-medicine company Maple in western P.E.I. has been recognized internationally.
"I'm the first to admit that nothing can actually replace the face-to-face with a family doctor,” Aylward said.
“But you know we have changing times, whereas recruitment of doctors is challenging. All provinces, all jurisdictions are in the same position that we are."
