Health PEI CEO says UPEI medical school concerns factor in resignation

Fears about the impact a new medical school will have on Prince Edward Island’s health-care system are a major contributing factor as to why the Island health authority’s CEO is stepping aside.

The medical school being built at the University of Prince Edward Island is coming along quickly, but questions remain about the negative impacts it could have on an already stressed and understaffed health-care system.

Health PEI CEO Dr. Michael Gardam has his own concerns.

“I worry that the medical school is going to damage all the good work, and the stuff that we’ve started to be able to really make a difference on here,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t want to be part of that.”

Dr. Gardam is leaving Health PEI at the end of March, due in part to the medical school and what he says is a lack of consultation by the province and UPEI.

However, Paul Young, UPEI Medical School’s Chief Operating Officer, said they are working with Health PEI and, though there are challenges, the school will serve as a recruiting beacon, and medical residents will be able to assist in the delivery healthcare.

“We know that we have physicians on P.E.I. today that have chosen to stay because the medical school was coming,” said Young. “We have physicians that have come to P.E.I. because the medical school was coming, and we have an incredible amount of reach out, weekly in our offices about prospective physicians.”

Young said there will be a final report released in the new year with proposed solutions to challenges faced by the school.

Among the biggest is a lack of doctors. About one in five positions on the Island are empty.

Dr. Gardam said a medical school could require double the physicians, and he worries that means doctors will have to scale back clinical work to teach, further reducing access to health care.

“It’s worrisome if we think we’re going to ram it through no matter what,” said Dr. Gardam. “It makes me feel like the medical school is a higher priority than our health-care system, and I don’t believe that that should be true.”

The medical school is set to accept its first class in fall 2025.

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