P.E.I.’s patient registry is shrinking, but more patients have lost a primary caregiver than have found one

P.E.I.’s patient registry has been creeping down for a little more than a year and a half.

While this appears to be a sign of progress for those without a family doctor or nurse practitioner, the numbers show more Prince Edward Island residents have lost a primary caregiver than have found a new one.

Since the start of 2025, there has been a net reduction of 5,100 from P.E.I.’s patient registry. As of the end of September, the patient registry had 31,707 P.E.I. residents on it, the lowest it has been since June 2023.

But the numbers have not been static.

Figures provided by Health P.E.I. show 15,669 P.E.I. residents were affiliated to a primary care provider between Jan. 2025 and Sept. 2026.

During that time, however, 20,040 people were added to the patient registry — 4,371 more than those who found a new primary caregiver.

As well, a total of 9,523 patients listed on the registry were “inactivated,” meaning they either moved, passed away, were deemed ineligible or they were found to be duplicate records.

That works out to an overall reduction in the registry of 5,100 patients.

While this is still a sign of progress, it is slower than targets articulated in recent years by both politicians and health-care leaders.

During the 2023 provincial election former premier Dennis King pledged to affiliate all patients on the registry within two years. This target was not met.

By late 2024, former Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser set down another target to reduce the patient registry to less than 5,000 by early 2027.

Health P.E.I. been silent on this public target in recent months, and it appears unlikely it will be reached.

Leadership of Health P.E.I. spoke before an all-party standing committee on health and social development on Oct. 7.

The topics highlighted were patient medical homes, or team-based primary health offices, recruitment efforts and the patient registry.

Kim Lawn, executive director or primary health care, noted 1,000 patients have been affiliated to UPEI’s patient medical home in recent weeks.

“We are learning how to do this more quickly. We are learning how to do this more efficiently in a supported manner,” Lawn said.

The officials noted the UPEI medical home has begun “exploring” the affiliation of patients to its entire team, rather than rostering patients specifically to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

This would differ from the other 18 patient medical homes across the province.

Laurae Kloschinsky, who has been interim CEO of Health P.E.I. since Fraser’s departure last spring, added Health P.E.I. has changed its model for recruitment of doctors, nurses and allied health staff.

While recruitment for the health system used to be housed in the Department of Health and Wellness, it is now effectively under Health P.E.I.’s control, although the Public Service Commission is still tasked with many of the hiring responsibilities.

Since the start of 2026, there have been 23 doctors, including five family doctors, who signed offer letters with Health P.E.I. Another 19 nurse practitioners have been recruited this year.

The presentation did not include figures on departures or retirements of family doctors or nurse practitioners.

Several MLAs raised questions about concerns they are hearing in the health system.

Green MLA Karla Bernard said she often hears Island residents who are in medical school in other provinces are being “courted” more consistently by recruiters from other provinces than they are by P.E.I.

“They get sent birthday cards when they come back to the province, they’re invited out for coffee … How is it that we’re still not doing that? If we’re doing it, we’re still not doing it consistently,” Bernard said.

Kloschinsky said Island health recruiters do reach out to medical students in other provinces, often doing recruitment mixers in all provinces.

But she said other medical schools or nursing programs have no obligation to inform Health P.E.I. when they have accepted new students from P.E.I.

“I won’t lie. When the admission letters go out from across Canada, we literally search through Facebook to be like ‘whose niece got in and how can we connect (with) them?’” Kloschinsky said.

Kloschinsky urged Islanders to inform Health P.E.I. when students are studying in health programs in other provinces.

Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly suggested nurse practitioners at the UPEI medical home have written to Health P.E.I. expressing concern at the expectations around the fast pace of patient affiliations.

“What was the context of that letter? And has that patient medical home lost any nurse practitioners in the last month?” McNeilly asked.

Kloschinsky confirmed receiving a letter from nurse practitioners and noted health leadership has recently met with the P.E.I. Nurses’ Union on the matter. But she did not specify whether NPs have left the UPEI team.

“There’s a lot of opportunity in our system for people to apply for other positions. It’s just — there are more vacancies than people. And so we can’t and don’t ever want to prevent somebody from applying to another position that may interest them,” Kloschinsky said.

The UPEI patient medical home has affiliated 2,600 patients since opening a year ago. Former Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser had said the patient medical home would affiliate 10,000 patients within two years of opening.

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Stu Neatby is a political reporter for The Guardian in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached at sneatby@postmedia.com and followed on X @stu_neatby.