Maple complaints raised inside the rail
Hal Perry argues increasing reliance on platform evidence of creeping privatization
Liberal Opposition Leader
Hal Perry is concerned the reliance on the virtual health care platform Maple is an example of the pitfalls of increasing private delivery of health care in P.E.I.
Maple is a private company that provides virtual health services across Canada. The P.E.I. government has a contract with Maple to provide free virtual health services for Islanders who lack a family doctor. The company is partially owned by Drug Mart Inc., a subsidiary of Loblaws.
Many of the 37,000 P.E.I. residents on the patient registry rely on the platform for health access.
During question period in the P.E.I. legislature on April 16, Perry said Maple is effectively the only publicly-supported virtual care provider in the province. He said he has heard complaints about poor service from constituents.
"Privatization doesn't encourage better service when it's the only option," Perry said.
While the Maple platform is subsidized by the province to be provided free for those on the patient registry, patients who have a family doctor are charged by the platform to access health services. But several Island residents have complained of lengthy wait times.
Perry raised the story of a patient without a family doctor who paid $70 after waiting for hours to see a health provider on the platform. Within three minutes, Perry said, the woman saw a provider.
“That's not access to health care, that's extortion for health care," Perry said.
Perry asked Health Minister Mark McLane if this was acceptable.
"We don't want anyone to pay for health care,” McLane said.
“We have universal health care. It's the basis of our system in Canada and both in Prince Edward Island. So we don't want that at all.”
McLane added the province does not manage the paid Maple service for residents with a family doctor. He also said the province operates primary care access clinics, which are physical clinics to which patients are referred to if their care cannot be provided solely through the virtual platform.
Perry raised another example of a man with a family doctor who could not get an appointment with his physician. He paid an $80 fee but was then disconnected.
“He was forced to pay another $80 when he finally got back on. Now, $80 is no small amount of money to lose. So he called Maple support team to try and get a refund for at least one of the charges. But no such luck," Perry said.
Perry asked what recourse this man had with the province.
McLane said his department plans to issue a public tender to expand free virtual care access on P.E.I. He did not provide other details of how much this tender will be.
PRIVATIZATION CONCERNS
"Do you believe we need more private health-care services in this province. Or do you believe that we need to invest more money in building up our public health-care system which is a cornerstone of our Canadian identity," Perry asked.
Premier Dennis King, who responded to this question, said the province has a “hybrid” model of healthcare delivery in areas such as long-term care, pharmacy and dentistry.
He suggested some private deliverers of care have been employed to help increase access to care for Island residents.
"At the end of the day, we should care more about the people going through the door as opposed to wondering where the money comes from and where the money goes. And people need access to service," King said.
Perry accused the King government of following the lead of the Doug Ford Progressive Conservative government in Ontario.
He said he knows of three Island doctors who are considering scaling back their practices in order to offer more of their clinical time on the Maple platform.
Perry asked how many other doctors have done the same thing.
"We do live in a world where people have a freedom to decide what they want to do, where they want to work and how they want to deploy their efforts. We live in a changing world," King replied.