Significant Challenges, But A Northern Cancer Clinic Is Feasible

Monday, January 30, 2006 12:59 PM

Northern Health and the B.C. Cancer Agency are forging ahead with plans for a full service cancer centre for Northern B.C..

While a report released publicly today by the partnership's Radiation Therapy Review Steering Committee shows the challenges to establishing such a centre in Prince George are significant, the committee also believes the clinic is "both desirable and feasible". The RTRSC supports planning for a centre to be opened no later than 2015.

Northern Health CEO Malcolm Maxwell says there are several main pillars that have to be built upon:

1. community support across the north for referrals to a Prince George-centred cancer clinic

2. a viable strategy to train and retain oncologists, physicists, and radiation therapists

3. the provincial government, Northern Health, and B.C. Cancer Agency have to identify capital and operating costs for the substantive services

4. radiation therapy is only one component of a comprehensive cancer strategy in the region that involves prevention and treatment

Maxwell says a price tag isn't yet available. He says the bricks-and-mortar cost of a regional cancer centre with links to Prince George Regional Hospital can be identified in in a reasonably straightforward way. But he says there's more work to be done on understanding the full implications on PGRH, with the potential for 800 cancer patients a year.

The Steering Committee conducted three site visits in preparing its report for Northern Health -- to cancer clinics in Kelowna, Saskatoon, and Thunder Bay -- and all three experience recruitment and retention challenges.

NH Board Chair Jeff Burghardt says, "We can plan the renos to PGRH, we can plan the new centre with all of the latest, fanciest equipment going, but, without the key human capital and human skill component, it won't be successful."

Burghardt says that is the "leap of faith" that will eventually have to be taken in building the centre, so it's important to lay a thorough and complete foundation. For his part, Malcolm Maxwell says, "I think experience has shown that one can attract specialized skills to good strong programs."

Northern Health and the B.C. Cancer Agency are embarking on a public consultation process on the region's cancer strategy in 16 communities over the next two months. A report on the community meetings will be presented to NH's Board of Directors in May. Meantime, a report on the actual costs needed to execute the plan in today's report, toward building a clinic, is expected in July.
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Posted on Monday, January 30, 2006 12:59 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: lunarcom on January 30 2006 3:20 PM

Where is this Prince George Regional Hospital they speak of ? I mean lately I know of three families that had to travel to Quesnel to get ultrasounds done and a person who needed the assistance of the mental health area but couldn't get in here in PG so off to Quesnel they go in an ambulance. But guess what once they were released they had to find thier own way home ! All because the Regional Hospital doesn't have the resources to do what it needs to do.
Don't get me wrong, the staff that works there I think are awesome. It is the management I question.

Posted by: ammonra on January 30 2006 4:30 PM

I don't think it's the management either, particularly. Like many hospitals in BC there is chronic underfunding. It appears to be a matter of policy to do this, on the presumption that staff will consequently push themselves to get as many patients seen as possible, including working unpaid overtime frequently. The health care system in BC is still bottom line driven rather than services to patients driven. That is, the work done is determined by the number of staff (FTE's, full time equivalents) each department is allowed to hire, rather than hiring the number of staff needed to treat the number of patients they have. In other words, the government funding system puts the cart before the horse. This is a chroic problem that has been going on for many years.

Posted by: diplomat on January 30 2006 5:00 PM

>...."planning for a centre to be opened no later than 2015."<

Five years AFTER the 2010 Winter Olympics?

Where are our priorities? 'Sports and Entertainment' before live saving healthcare?

Absolutely shocking.

Posted by: diplomat on January 30 2006 5:55 PM

From the hansard of the B.C. Legislature, May 10th, Friday, 1991:

>"HON. J. JANSEN: Shame! I wonder if his feelings are the same for the people of Prince George, who want a cancer clinic in their community. Perhaps the member would like to comment on that. I know that the people in Prince George.... that maybe the people of Prince George would like a cancer clinic.<"

These demands for a Prince George cancer clinic have been made officially since before 1990 and have been bandied about for a decade and a half already, since being promised to us by Mike Harcourt during his election campaign!!!

By the time something finally materializes a whole quarter of a century will have elapsed - our promised cancer clinic went to Kelowna instead!!!

For those who wish to refresh their memories a visit to the B.C. Legislature Hansard will yield a lot of information about us always getting shafted!

http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/Hansard

Posted by: owl on January 30 2006 11:15 PM

NH Board Chair Jeff Burghardt says, "We can plan the renos to PGRH, we can plan the new centre with all of the latest, fanciest equipment going, but, without the key human capital and human skill component, it won't be successful."

So, basically what I see him saying is they know how to plan for the "hard" stuff, but appear to have little if any clue how to deal with the "soft" stuff of people recruitment and retention.

One would think that with a Medical program here, that the likelyhood of being an associate prof. at UNBC would be one attraction, although shortly Kelowna will be able to offer that as well.

So, what are the perks which need to be provided? Since we cannot provide Whistler close at hand, nor a performing arts centre, perhaps a clinic paid for Beamer plus 6 weeks paid vacation, plus.. plus .. will work.

Posted by: owl on January 30 2006 11:23 PM

I do not know how well the program in Nova Scotia worked. The linked article is 5+ years old. Seems to deal with ensuring sufficient income in a low population region plus assuring access to research .......

If that is still the key, I am sure others have tried that as well, and if they have succeeded, we simply need to follow suit ....
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/cdn_medical_association/cmaj/vol-162/issue-9/1341b.htm

Posted by: diplomat on January 31 2006 8:53 AM

>Where are our priorities? 'Sports and Entertainment' before live saving healthcare?<

Sorry for the typo. I meant life-saving, of course.

If UNBC had not been founded by VanderZalm's enactment of the UNBC act for fear of not being able to attract capable professionals - it wouldn't exist today.

Same, in my opinion with the Cancer Clinic.

Cancer rates are supposedly on the increase.

Posted by: ammonra on January 31 2006 9:46 AM

I'm not so sure van der Zalm did it for that reason. I do recall that a minority of prominent Socreds of the time were quite acively opposed to creating UNBC. My perception was that van der Zalm Okayed the university more as a last ditch effort to retain some credibility than anything else. The major pressure to establish it was from the community of PG in particular, but also from all across the North. It was largely an apolitical process as well, I recall.

Posted by: diplomat on January 31 2006 11:37 AM

Ammonra: "My perception was that van der Zalm Okayed the university more as a last ditch effort to retain some credibility than anything else. "

That's good enough for me! The outcome was faaaaaaantastic!

Maybe we can question the credibility of some of those in power at present (and because of their endless stalling we perhaps should do so!) and get the Cancer Clinic ball rolling!

Posted by: ammonra on January 31 2006 3:44 PM

Getting UNBC established in PG shows that the community is quite prepared to come together, and pay money to do so, for things that are of that level of importance. A cancer treatment centre in PG to serve Northern BC is obviously like that. What can be done once can be done twice, so perhaps a Cancer Center Society needs forming to bring as much pressure as possible on Victoria from all sectors of PG and Northern BC society. Politicians respond positively to political pressure, and that's what decisions of this kind are. All the statistics and medical reasonings are just rationalising by beaurocrats to avoid doing what citizens want. It is, after all, taxpayers' money and taxpayers should be allowed to spend it on themselves if they want.

Posted by: fedup on January 31 2006 4:27 PM

I am not sure but I would guess the money needed to start and run this clinic will be tax money from the north and it would be about time some of our money stayed in our community.Billions of dollars for infustructure in Vancouver is being perposed to deal with their ever growing population well maybe if we were the beneficiaries of some of this money it would attract the people we need to this community and take the pressure off Vancouver?If Edmonton can be the city it is I don't see why we can't do the same we have a lot more to offer IMO.As for the Northern Health and PGRH I have been told their is more administration than you can shake a stick at and this is wasting money that could be spent on beds and nurses.It would be nice if our city council spent some time on this kind of stuff instead of holidaying on our buck.