'Crisis,' 'mismanagement,' 'well-positioned'?: Health care big issue in byelection

The candidates in the P.E.I. byelection in District 16, Cornwall-Meadowbank, agree health care is a big issue, but not surprisingly their thoughts about dealing with it differ.

Voters in the district will go to the polls Nov. 15. The byelection was prompted by the departure of Liberal Heath MacDonald, who resigned to run federally in Malpeque, a seat he ultimately won.

Green candidate Todd MacLean has been campaigning for four weeks, since before the byelection date was even announced. MacLean said he knew he would be hearing a lot about the health-care system, but the concerns being passed along still surprised him.

"It's bowling me over, the amount that I'm hearing from so many doors, that people are so concerned about the state of health on P.E.I. I will state it here right now that I really firmly believe that we're in a crisis state," he said.

"It's just completely unacceptable."

MacLean said people are sharing impacts of being on the waiting list for a family physician, which now has more than 20,000 Islanders on it, representing one-eighth of P.E.I.'s population. They are also talking about increased waiting times at clinics and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital emergency room.

Because the health-care system is short on staff, he pointed out, everyone has to work harder. That is hurting retention, thus making the problem even worse.

He noted that a Green Party motion passed in the legislature last week expanding the potential scope of practice for pharmacists could help ease some of the workload pressure.

Liberal candidate Jane MacIsaac characterized what she is hearing at the door from people not as demands, but as reasonable requests to fulfil a need for reliable, timely health care.

"We're just seeing too much mismanagement. I think there's a better way to manage the resources that we have," said MacIsaac.

"We're looking at a shortage of staff in some situations where we've got open beds and then we've got people that are, you know, waiting in the emergency room at the QEH. I don't know how anyone could look at that and think it's well-managed."

A solution to the system's problems is what residents of the district deserve, she said, and she is running to be part of making that happen.

While acknowledging the health system faces issues, Progressive Conservative candidate Mark McLane said he is confident in the current government's ability to handle them.

"Dennis and his government, they're starting to tackle those issues. Obviously they had to deal with COVID in the first 18 months of their mandate," said McLane.