Let Vero draft the letter.
Say the dates and arrangements once, and Vero drafts the letter in this template, for you and the practice to check, agree on, and export to PDF or Word.
Doctor Leaving Practice Letter Template
A doctor leaving practice letter tells patients that one clinician is leaving a practice that carries on: the last day, who can care for them there, whether they can follow, and what happens to their records and pending results. It works the same for a nurse practitioner or any clinician with their own patients. Copy the template, see a physician moving away and a nurse practitioner opening a practice nearby, and keep the letter neutral so patients can choose.
- Free, no account needed
- Word and text downloads
- Two filled examples
Blank doctor leaving practice letter template
FreeLETTER TO PATIENTS: A CLINICIAN IS LEAVING THE PRACTICE [Practice name] [Address] [Phone, email, and patient portal] Date: [Date sent] To: [Patient's full name] Sent by: [Mail, patient portal, or email] Dear [Patient name], [Clinician's name and credentials] will see patients at [practice name] until [last day, with the weekday]. [One sentence on the reason, if the clinician wants to share it, or delete this line] YOUR CHOICE Where you get care from here is your decision. Both options below are open to you. Stay at [practice name]: [The clinician who will take over your care, from what date, and whether you need to do anything] Move with [clinician's name]: [New practice name, address, phone, and opening date, or: This option isn't available, because the new role won't include patients from this practice] YOUR RECORDS Kept by: [Practice name, or the clinician, as the practice agreement says] Copies or a transfer: [How to ask, the form to sign, any fee, and how long it takes] RESULTS, REFERRALS, AND PRESCRIPTIONS Results that arrive after [last day]: [Name of the clinician who will review them and contact you] Referrals already sent: [Where the specialist's report will go, and whom to call about an appointment] Prescriptions: [How to renew before and after the last day] IF YOU NEED CARE IN THE MEANTIME [Same-day appointments, the after-hours line, and when to go to an emergency department] [A thank-you from the clinician, in 1 or 2 sentences] Questions: [Name, phone, or email of the contact at the practice] [Clinician's name, credentials] [Name and role of the person signing for the practice]
Use it for
- Moving to another city
- Opening a practice nearby
- A new hospital or academic role
- Retiring from a group that carries on
- Nurse practitioners and other clinicians
Two filled examples. Every part, filled in.
Each one follows the template. Use them to judge how much detail every part needs.
Doctor leaving practice letter: physician moving to another city
Group family practice of 5 physicians; patients stay with the practice
Sent
Monday, October 5, 2026, by mail and the patient portal, to every patient on Dr. Daniel Brennan’s panel at Lakeview Family Practice. Signed by Dr. Brennan and the practice’s medical director.
Departure
Dr. Brennan will see patients at Lakeview until Friday, January 8, 2027. He is moving with his family to a city about 5 hours away, so he can’t continue as your physician.
Your choice
Dr. Priya Raman joins Lakeview on Monday, January 11, 2027, and will take over Dr. Brennan’s patients. If you stay, you don’t need to do anything. If you would rather move your care to another clinic, that is your choice, and we will send your records there.
Records
Your chart stays at Lakeview, which holds the records for all its physicians. To send it to another clinic, sign a records transfer form at the front desk or in the portal. There is no charge for a transfer to your new clinician.
Results and prescriptions
Results of tests Dr. Brennan ordered that arrive after January 8 will go to Dr. Raman, who will contact you if any needs action. Reports from specialists you were referred to will go to her too. If you take a regular medication, book a visit before January 8, and Dr. Brennan will renew it for long enough to reach your first visit with Dr. Raman.
In the meantime
Lakeview’s same-day clinic and after-hours line stay open as usual. For chest pain, trouble breathing, or any other emergency, call emergency services.
Thank you
From Dr. Brennan: “Thank you for letting me care for you and your families for the past 11 years. It has been a privilege.”
Clinician leaving practice letter: nurse practitioner opening her own practice
Group health centre; one letter agreed and signed by the nurse practitioner and the centre
Sent
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, through the patient portal, and by mail to patients without a portal account, to every patient Maya Castillo, NP, has seen in the last 2 years. Signed by Ms. Castillo and the Northgate Health Centre clinic manager.
Departure
Maya Castillo, NP, will see patients at Northgate until Friday, January 29, 2027. She is opening her own family practice across town.
Your choice
You can stay at Northgate, or move your care to Ms. Castillo’s new practice. Either is fine, and the choice is yours.
Staying
Dr. Owen Mercer will take over your care at Northgate from Monday, February 1, 2027. You don’t need to do anything.
Moving
Castillo Family Care opens on Monday, February 1, 2027; its address and phone number are at the end of this letter. To move, call the new practice and sign its request for your records, and Northgate will send your chart. Nothing is sent until you sign.
Results and referrals
Results of tests ordered before January 29 come to Northgate. Dr. Mercer will review any that arrive after that date and contact you if one needs action; if you have moved to Ms. Castillo’s practice, Northgate will forward them there. If you are waiting for a specialist appointment, tell the specialist’s office which practice should get the report.
Thank you
From Ms. Castillo: “Thank you for the trust you have given me. Whichever you choose, I wish you good health.”
Notice rules when a clinician leaves a practice. Checked October 2026.
Medical regulators and ethics codes set what patients must be told, and when. These rules are written for physicians; nurse practitioners and other clinicians should check their own regulator. Employment and partnership agreements, and other states and provinces, can add more.
United States, AMA ethics on notice
When withdrawing from a patient’s care, a physician must notify the patient, or their authorized decision maker, long enough in advance for them to secure another physician, and help transfer care when appropriate. It gives no number of days. At the start of the relationship, physicians should alert patients to any foreseeable impediments to continuity of care.
Ohio
A physician leaving a practice as an owner, an independent contractor, or an employee of a practice that isn’t a “health care entity” must notify every patient they saw in the 2 years before their last day of seeing patients, by mail or a secure patient-portal message, at least 30 days before that day, or when they first know they’re leaving, if that is earlier. The notice says that they’re leaving and when, their new contact details if they will see patients elsewhere, another physician or group practice that can provide care, and how to get information about records. When a physician’s employment with a health care entity ends, the entity sends the notice the same way, or gives the physician the patient list to send it.
United States, AMA ethics on records
When a physician leaves a practice, the records should be available to the succeeding physician or another authorized person, and copied or transferred when the patient asks. The physician, or whoever is responsible for the practice’s records, should never refuse a patient’s request to transfer the record, should charge only a reasonable fee if any, and should tell patients how to access records that aren’t transferred, and for how long.
Alberta
A physician leaving a practice, including moving too far for patients to reasonably travel, must give documented notice at least 90 days ahead to patients seen in the past year who expect ongoing care, unless the reason is beyond their control; a replacement taking over can shorten it. The notice, by letter, secure email, or phone, gives the last day, how to find a new physician, how to get outstanding test and referral results, and how to get copies of records. The physician must also arrange follow-up of outstanding tests and reports.
British Columbia
Physicians must tell patients they are leaving as soon as they know, with at least 3 months’ notice where possible, and document their efforts: in person, or by a detailed letter, email, or phone call with the departure date, how to get copies of records, and, as appropriate, who is taking over or whether partners or associates are accepting new patients. Messages must be limited to factual, general advice. A handout or sign in the waiting area and the office voicemail must give the same information, and physicians must arrange follow-up of outstanding reports and test results.
Canada, CMPA advice
In a group practice, it should be clear who keeps the records when a physician leaves, ideally through a written agreement made on joining, which can let the physician keep access to the records they wrote. Physicians should make reasonable efforts to have work in progress completed and acted on; renewing prescriptions gives patients time to find another physician.
What goes in each part.
Practice, date, and who signs
Who the letter comes from. When one clinician leaves, it speaks for both the clinician and the practice, so agree on it together.
- The practice’s name, address, phone, and portal
- The date you send it, and how: mail, portal, or email
- Signatures from the departing clinician and someone for the practice, such as the medical director or manager
Avoid: Two letters with different facts, one from the clinician and one from the practice. Patients won’t know which to believe.
The departure
The clinician’s last day seeing patients here and, if they want to share it, why.
- The last day, with the weekday
- One sentence on the reason, such as a move, a new role, or retirement, if the clinician wants it in
- A send date early enough to give the notice your regulator expects
Avoid: Explaining a dispute or a contract. Patients need the date and what it means for them, not the background.
Your choice
Patients decide where they get care. Set out each option in the same plain terms, and let them choose.
- Who will care for them if they stay, and from when
- Where the departing clinician is going, with contact details and an opening date, if patients may follow
- That following isn’t possible, and why, when the new role won’t include these patients
- What the patient needs to do for each option, if anything
Avoid: Steering. “We hope you’ll stay” and “I’d love to keep caring for you” both push. Give the facts and stop.
Records
Who keeps the chart after the clinician leaves, and how the patient gets a copy or sends it elsewhere.
- Who holds the records, as the agreement between the clinician and the practice says
- How to ask for a copy or a transfer, and the form to sign
- Any fee, and roughly how long a transfer takes
Avoid: Moving a chart to the new practice before the patient has signed a request.
Results, referrals, and prescriptions
Work in progress needs an owner by name, so nothing the departing clinician ordered goes unread.
- The clinician who will review results that arrive after the last day
- Where specialist reports for referrals already sent will go
- How to renew prescriptions before and after the last day
Avoid: “The office will follow up.” Name a person, and change where labs and imaging send reports before the last day.
Care in the meantime, and thanks
What to do if the patient needs care before they have settled with a new clinician, and a short thank-you.
- Same-day and after-hours options at the practice
- When to go to an emergency department
- A thank-you in the clinician’s own words, 1 or 2 sentences
- A contact at the practice for questions
Avoid: A long farewell. Keep the thanks short, and keep the facts above it.
Common mistakes, and how to avoid them.
Steering patients
Patients choose where they get care. Words like “we hope you’ll stay” or “come with me” push them one way. Give each option the same plain facts.
Results with no owner
Tests ordered in the last few weeks come back after the clinician has gone. Name who reviews them, and reroute lab and imaging reports before the last day.
Holding the letter over a dispute
The clinician and the practice may disagree about wording or the patient list. Agree early on a plain, factual letter; patients need fair notice either way.
Leaving the follow option unclear
If patients may follow, say where the clinician is going and how to move. If they can’t, say so, so no one waits for an address that won’t come.
Too little notice
Some regulators expect about 3 months. Send the letter as soon as the last day is set, and put the same facts on a waiting-room sign and the practice’s voicemail.
Try Vero free
Frequently asked questions.
What should a doctor leaving practice letter include?
The clinician’s last day, who will care for patients who stay, whether they can follow and how, who keeps the records and how to get a copy or a transfer, and who handles results, referrals, and prescriptions after the last day. Add what to do for urgent care in the meantime and a short thank-you.
How much notice should patients get when a doctor leaves?
As much as you can. Rules differ by place and profession: some regulators expect about 3 months, others at least 30 days, with exceptions for sudden illness or other events beyond your control. Check the table on this page and your own regulator.
Can patients follow their doctor to a new practice?
Yes, if the clinician will see them there: patients choose where they get care. Say in the letter where the clinician is going and how to move. An employment or partnership contract may limit how the clinician contacts patients, so agree on the letter with the practice and get advice if you’re unsure.
Should the practice or the departing clinician send the letter?
Either can, and one letter signed by both is best. The clinician and the practice can agree on who sends it and what it says; some rules let an employer send the notice or give the clinician the patient list. Whatever you agree, every patient with ongoing care should get the same facts in time.
Who keeps the medical records when a doctor leaves a group practice?
Whoever the agreement between the clinician and the practice names. Patients can still ask for a copy, or for the chart to go to another clinician, with their signed request. Settle it in writing before the last day, including the departing clinician’s access to the records they wrote.
Who is responsible for test results after a doctor leaves?
The clinician named in the letter. Before the last day, the departing clinician and the practice agree on who will review results and specialist reports that arrive later, and change where labs and imaging send them.
Show all questions
Can a nurse practitioner use this letter?
Yes. It works for any clinician with their own patients, such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. The rules in the table are written for physicians, so check your own regulator’s.
Is this doctor leaving practice letter template free?
Yes. Copy it, or download it as a Word or text file. No account needed.
Can Vero write a doctor leaving practice letter?
Yes. Paste this template into Vero, say or type the dates and arrangements, and it drafts the letter for you to review with the practice. Then export it to PDF or Word, print it, or email it.
More templates, and guides.
Doctor’s note template
For work or school: the visit, the dates off, the return, and any limits.
Return-to-work note template
To an employer: full or modified duties, the restrictions, how long they last, and the review date.
Medical leave letter template
To an employer or leave administrator: when the leave starts, how long it lasts, the review date, and what the return needs.
Workplace accommodation letter template
To an employer: what the condition limits, the change that would help, how long, and answers to the employer’s questions.
Pregnancy accommodation letter template
To an employer: the pregnancy-related limitation, the change needed at work, and how long it lasts.
Practice closure letter
When the whole practice closes or moves, and every patient needs a plan.
Abnormal test results letter
Tell a patient about a result that needs action, including one that arrives after a handover.
Referral letter
Hand a patient in active treatment to the clinician taking over, with the history and plan.
Referral management
Handoffs and referral letters drafted from the visit, for care that changes hands.
Your template. Filled in from the visit.
Vero writes your notes and letters in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
Try Vero free
No credit card required. 10 free actions every month.