Delay in cancer centre expansion may derail Ontario project
CMAJ 2000;162:1188
The Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre may move to a new location because of plans proposed by the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation (HHSC) to remove acute care services from the Henderson General Hospital.
The centre had originally planned to build a $45-million addition to its present site beside the Henderson, which it relies on for diagnostic and emergency services. However, Dr. George Browman, head of the cancer centre, says uncertainty surrounding the Henderson's medical role has forced the centre to look at alternative sites. Browman says there's a lot at stake because local patients are already being sent to hospitals in Buffalo and Thunder Bay, Ont., for treatment.
The HHSC includes the McMaster Medical Centre and the Hamilton General, Henderson and Chedoke hospitals. Browman said earlier that the delay was not affecting operations at the centre, but that it had affected morale. The longer the delay continues, he says, the more impact it will have on cancer centre patients. "If there are any delays or ambiguities about the siting issue, there is a risk that getting the cancer centre expansion back on track could be significantly delayed."
Facilities aren't the only shortfall in cancer care. According to Dr. Tom McGowan, head of radiation therapy with Cancer Care Ontario, an agency of the provincial government, staffing of the province's regional cancer centres is also a problem. "Everything regarding waiting times and our ability to treat people is tied directly to our ability to recruit. We need to have people here as fully functional radiation staff." The Toronto radiation oncologist says the most serious situations are in Toronto, Hamilton and London, Ont. Three new centres, in Peel, Durham and Kitchener-Waterloo, are being built.
Dr. Anthony Whitton, head of radiation oncology and chair of the radiation program at the Hamilton centre, says there are staff and treatment unit limitations. "We are not able to run all the units that we have because of a lack of therapists. If we didn't have [the ability to re-refer to other cancer centres], then our waiting times would be very long. We've sent about 160 [patients] since this re-referral started." He worries that sending patients away adds to their stress.
Ted Wheatley, president of Ontario Division of the Canadian Cancer Society, agrees. "It's shameful that cancer patients are being asked to shoulder the stress of having to cope with an inadequate cancer treatment system." — Ken Kilpatrick, Hamilton
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