New Patient Information

Newcomers to Prince Edward County who are seeking a new family physician will use “Health Care Connect” to find a family health care provider.

Health Care Connect is a program that will help people without a regular healthcare provider find one in their community. The program identifies physicians who practice in Prince Edward County and who are accepting patients and will link them with people who are in need of a family physician.

In order to register with Health Care Connect, you cannot be enrolled with a family physician.  According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, ending your enrollment status with your physician to permit you to add your name to a wait list for a physician in Prince Edward County is not a reason for your current family physician to end your relationship with you.  Patients can request to not be a rostered patient and the physician should accept them as a pay per service (billed through OHIP) patient. It would not be appropriate for a physician to terminate a patient because they have requested to be taken off as a rostered patient and remain as a pay per service patient in the practice.*
Given this, we encourage individuals to speak to their current family physician and discuss your intent of  no longer being an enrolled patient to permit you to add your name to the Health Care Connect program.
To join Health Care Connect, call 1-800-445-1822 to speak with someone who will ask you a short series of questions and sign you up for the program. Once you have joined, a nurse called a “Care Connector” will be assigned to help you find a health care provider in Prince Edward County. Priority is given to individuals with greater health needs. You will be referred to a family physician as soon as one is found. For more information please visit www.ontario.ca/healthcareconnect.
PEFHT family physicians and Nurse Practitioners work collaboratively with the other health professionals on the team to offer a broad range of programs and services. Please see “Programs” for a complete list.
If you have previously submitted an enrolment application your application will remain on the waitlist.

Local families without a family physician currently have 3 options for child immunizations:

The Telemed Clinics in Brighton, Trenton and Belleville will do routine well baby visits including immunizations.
Families can easily book appointments via their website https://telemedmd.ca/
In many cases they can get same day or next day appointments.

*Information obtained from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, June 2018.

People Without Family Physician

Family Physician Shortage

It is with deep concern that we find ourselves in the situation where there are more unattached patients in 2023 than in previous years.  We want our community to know that we are doing all we can to address this situation.

What are We Doing About this Situation?

The Prince Edward Family Health Team are intensely committed and involved in the recruitment of new physicians to The County.  We have a strong partnership with the County of Prince Edward, Quinte Health Care and Health Force Ontario, Ontario Health and have formed a Physician Recruitment and Retention Task Team to create a comprehensive program that aims to address the barriers that may stop some physicians from choosing to practice in Prince Edward County.

One of these efforts is reviewing our incentives for signing on with us; many of our residents are aware of this and the recent deputations our PEFHT physicians have made.  There are other drivers for physicians in where they choose to practice.  Some of those are finding robust communities for their spouses to work in, having a safe and welcoming community to raise a family in, finding housing, having a team-based care environment, to name a few.  Our wonderful new and sure to be forthcoming hospital is a wonderful attractor and we wish to recognize and thank our foundation, The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation, and all the residents who have pledged funds to assuredly help us secure that new hospital in our future.

We have many strengths going for us by living in our very popular and desirable Prince Edward County.  That being the case, we find ourselves being currently unable to locate the maximum number of family physicians the Ministry of Health has approved for our community (this number is 23 family physicians).

We want to be able to continue our efforts in filling our physician spots and that is why it is so very important that you sign up for a family physician as soon as possible. This will help us better understand the true need and enable us to work with all of our partners to find a solution.

How to Sign Up for a Family Physician

Currently, the central means of finding a family physician accepting new patients is by visiting Health Care Connect or by calling 1-800-445-1822. This is a central service funded by the Provincial Government.

For Former Patients

Prescription Renewals: we understand the physicians have either been in direct consultation with patients who are taking medications or worked behind the scene to ensure renewals were available at the pharmacy patients would normally use.  If you are seeking a renewal of your medication and are a former patient we recommend you call your regular pharmacy and determine if your renewal is on file.  If it is not, we recommend you go to either a walk-in clinic or the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital to obtain your renewal.

Medical Records: The PEFHT is the Health Information Custodian for all the employees, family physicians and the family physician office team members. As such, the PEFHT is still accountable to safeguard and protect access to your medical records, even when a family physician leaves our team.  The PEFHT can fulfill your request to provide you with your medical records.  This is your information.  To obtain a copy of your medical records, please call 613-476-0400 and have your request logged with a PEFHT team member.  We do ask for a bit of patience should the volume of asks be high.  We aim to fulfill your ask in a reasonable period of time, often within a week.  It may take longer however and we will let you know about this as we fulfill your request, how to pick up your records and where to pick up your records.  There is a $40.00 fee we are asking community members to help us cover the cost of the media we are using to provide you with your medical records.

The Prince Edward Family Health Team endeavors to serve the members of our community and support the health and well-being of our residents.  We commit to staying with this issue and doing all we can for our community.

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