An individual complained about an eight-month delay in receiving a decision on an application
to Health PEI for an out-of-province medical service. Despite several follow-up inquiries, the
individual had not received a response or an estimated timeline for when a decision would be
made.
OmbudsPEI contacted Health PEI to determine the status of the application and whether there
had been a delay in its processing. Health PEI advised that, while there is no standard timeline
for reviewing and approving out-of-province medical service applications, it acknowledged that
there had been a delay in finalizing and communicating a decision. Health PEI explained that
the delay was related to its internal processes, policy framework, and the costs associated with
the request.
Following OmbudsPEI’s involvement, Health PEI promptly completed its review, finalized its
decision, and approved the individual’s request. Health PEI acknowledged that the internal
process and policy framework regarding out-of-province medical services requires updating and
Health PEI intendeds to action this work in the near future.