Patients of a departing family physician in Russell, Ont., southeast of Ottawa, are preparing to line up — and even camp out — in order to secure a coveted spot with their doctor's successor.

General practioner Danielle De Banné is leaving her practice this fall, and leaving behind more than 1,700 patients. Her replacement, Dr. Anna Boutillier, is only able to take 1,200 of them.

De Banné's patients have been informed that on Sept. 9 they'll have to register in person at the Russell Medical Centre for a spot on Boutillier's roster.

"Some of us in the community have joked about, do we pitch a tent? Is this like the Miley Cyrus concert?" said Deirdre Cooke, a patient of De Banné's for more than 20 years.

​"It will be a very hard reality to accept if in fact we don't make it on the roster," Cooke said. "I do worry about it."

Dr. Danielle De Banné says she feels for patients who will be left without a doctor when she leaves her practice. (Jennifer Chevalier/CBC) Elderly patients will be automatically added to the new doctor's roster, and won't be forced to join the queue.

De Banné knows it could be a chaotic scene that Saturday, and has warned OPP in case they need to direct traffic. She's also concerned about those patients who won't make it onto the new list.

"There's no easy way of trimming down a practice," she said. "It's a very difficult situation and one that I feel terrible about."

Excessive workload

De Banné isn't blaming the incoming doctor for not taking on all 1,700 of her patients. She knows she took on too many, and said that's why she's leaving.

"The workload has become excessive," De Banné said. "I've known that I've had too many patients for about 10 years."

I've known that I've had too many patients for about 10 years. - Dr. Danielle De Banné

De Banné said she likes to go the extra mile, checking in with patients on weekends and following up with specialists.

"I just can't do it any more," she said.

De Banné said she may pitch in with her daughter-in-law's medical practice, and may explore working in palliative care.

The 58-year-old had hoped to retain some of her patients and work part time. But under the province's Family Health Organization system, which regulates how some physicians are paid, splitting the practice wasn't possible because Russell isn't considered a high-needs area.

That means a new doctor can't join a practice unless the old one leaves.

Shortage could worsen

Statistics provided by the Ontario Medical Association show that 66,000 adults in eastern Ontario did not have a family doctor in 2016.

The trend of patients competing for places on doctors' rosters may increase as more and more doctors of the baby boom generation retire.

"These are family physicians who have large practices that have developed over time, and who are simply not going to be able to find younger physicians who are able to take on those practices," said Sarah Simkin, a doctor who studied the issue of physician retirement at the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Sarah Simkin is an expert in physician retirement. (CBC)

"Younger physicians are not working as much as older physicians used to," Simkin said.

Simkin said the generation of doctors now retiring may have had support at home, allowing them to work long hours. Younger doctors tend to share family responsibilities with spouses who are themselves working.

Simkin said it's prudent for doctors to limit their practices to what they can handle.

"I think most doctors want to provide the best possible care to their patients, and so if you have a practice that is so big that it's unmanageable, then your patients can't get access to you and you can't provide good care."