Islanders encouraged to sign up for a doctor

P.E.I.'s Health Department is planning a marketing campaign to get people who don't have a family doctor on to its patient registry.

About 1,500 people are on the list waiting for a family doctor, but the department estimates another 5,000 need a doctorand aren't on the list.

"We certainly want to get a real good appreciation of what exactly our registry is, and in order to do that, we need Islanders to sign on," Health Minister Doug Currie told CBC News on Monday.

"It's very difficult for us to anticipate, but we're doing the best we can. As I said, it's a bit of moving target."

Currie said there will be 14 new doctors practising on P.E.I. by the end of the year, but it's too soon to say what impact they will have on the size of the registry.