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Is the Premier Passing the Buck on a Cancer Clinic?

By Ben Meisner

As efforts continue to  push for a cancer clinic that would serve the Prince George area, a letter from the Premier appears to  pass responsibility for the development of a clinic over to the Northern Health Authority.  

In a letter to a Prince George resident earlier this week, Premier Gordon Campbell said, "As you may know, when government restructured the health care system in British Columbia, we created five regional Health authorities and gave them funding and the mandate to plan, manage and deliver health services to meet the needs of the people within their regions. I would encourage you to share your concerns with your local health authority." 

Whether that statement means the Health Authority would be responsible to provide the funding is not clear and the Premier was not available for comment.

The Northern Medical Society's head of the Department of Family Medicine,  Dr. (A) Toni Eckersley, says regardless of what the arguments are against a cancer clinic, the Northern Health Authority would need an infusion of funds to make a Cancer Clinic possible. 
 
Other cities that have seen the establishment of a cancer clinic have received provincial funding above their normal budgets. 

Dr. Eckersley said, “It makes very good sense from a clinical and humanitarian ground that we have such a facility for people in the north.” “People" he said "will all eventually receive treatment, but it is a bad thing to send someone away for treatment to strange surroundings during what is a very stressful time in their lives”.
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