Concerns over a doctor shortage in eastern P.E.I. drew about 500 people to a public meeting held by a health-care lobby group in Souris Thursday night.

Islandwide Hospital Access presented a report it has been working on for years, saying its findings point to a health-care crisis in Kings County.

"We have 4,000 who have no doctor, or who have to travel out of region for a doctor," said Alan MacPhee, chairman of Islandwide Hospital Access.

Alan MacPhee, Islandwide Hospital Access chairman, says 4,000 people in Kings County who have no doctor or who have to travel out out of region for health care. (CBC)

"It's affecting lines at the emergency room in Montague and Charlottetown. We can't accept bed transfers from the [Queen Elizabeth Hospital], so we're filling up beds there. We've got horror stories of senior citizens going into emergency room, not being able to be waited on."

The group's report contains 22 recommendations, including asking Health PEI to do more to recruit physicians and to improve emergency services across the Island.

Health PEI responds

In a written statement sent to CBC News on Thursday, Health PEI said there are currently 531 Islanders from eastern Kings County on the provincial patient registry, 414 of whom are from Souris.

"There could be several reasons for this. Many Islanders choose to be followed by a physician who is not located in the same region as they live. As an example, some may choose a physician who is closer to their place of work," said Health PEI.

The report contains 22 recommendations to improve health care in eastern P.E.I. (CBC)

Numbers from Islandwide Hospital Access don't accurately reflect the distribution of the physician complement or the patent caseload, said Health P.E.I.

"It is not as simple as dividing the population by the number of physicians. Each physician practice is not the same, and panel size can increase or decrease depending on the support staff, e.g. whether there is a nurse practitioner or the practice is in a network."

Health PEI also said it has been aggressively recruiting physicians for the area.

"We have as much concern in terms of making sure the numbers are here for the community to rely and have enough physicians. We are equally concerned about our present physicians to make sure that they have a workload that they can, you know, that they can deal with," said Dr. Nadeem Dada, executive director for medical affairs at Health PEI.

Meanwhile, temporary physicians are filling in when possible and two have been confirmed for the summer months, said Health PEI officials.