FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2026
Statement from Matt MacFarlane on letter from the Medical Society of PEI: It’s time to stop the damage and rebuild trust with PEI family doctors
Charlottetown, PE – Yesterday, the Legislative Committee on Health and Social Development received a letter from the Medical Society of PEI that confirms what Islanders and family doctors have been warning about for months: this PC government’s approach to implementing the Physician Services Agreement is damaging trust, undermining recruitment, and putting patient care at risk.
The Physician Services Agreement was meant to be a turning point. It was celebrated nationally. It recognized family medicine as a specialty. It offered competitive compensation, team-based care through Patient Medical Homes, and a clear pathway to making PEI a destination of choice for family doctors.
And yet, despite that promise, we have seen no net gain in family medicine doctors this past year. Any recruitment gains are merely offsetting departures. Our patient registry remains stubbornly high. Even more concerning, medical residents training here on PEI are now hesitant to stay.
The Medical Society has described the government’s year-long approach as adversarial. Not only are the actions of this government driving doctors away, they have also cost Island taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. At a time when our province is in both a financial and healthcare crisis, Premier Lantz should not be allowing this to continue.
The Island needs a Premier who will put a stop to this disastrous and alarmingly disrespectful approach to the foundation of our healthcare system – our primary care.
We must return to the spirit of collaboration that shaped the Physician Services Agreement in the first place. Implementing it properly, with full respect for family doctors’ expertise could significantly reduce our patient registry. But that will only happen if we rebuild trust immediately.
Every doctor that we lose makes recruitment harder. Every year that we fail to retain our medical residents sets us further back. It is time to stop the damage, honour the agreement, and get back to the work of recruiting and retaining the family doctors Islanders desperately need.
Matt MacFarlane
Leader of the Green Party of PEI
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Katie Rankin
Chief of Staff
Office of the Third Party
Tel: (902) 213-6378
Email: kerankin@assembly.pe.ca