Northern Health has announced plans to temporarily centralize chemotherapy intravenous treatments at the Fort St. John hospital.
Cancer patients in Dawson Creek were upset earlier in the year when the health authority began shifting the on-again, off-again treatments from their local hospital to Fort St. John. Arranging for childcare, travel and having to deal with icy winter roads was causing stress, some said.
Now, at least for the time being, there will be no cancer services in Dawson Creek. The health authority says the move comes because of a lack of certified oncology nurses.
“Chemotherapy services in Fort St. John are located at the Community Oncology Network Clinic at the First St. John Hospital,” Northern Health said in a release. “Patients will be diverted there on a temporary basis until the two existing vacancies in the Dawson Creek Community Oncology Clinic are filled with certified oncology nurses.”
Northern Health’s Connections transportation service is available three days a week from Dawson Creek for patients and their family members or support personnel. More information about the bus can be found at nhconnections.ca.
“(We’re) committed to the delivery of safe and sustainable cancer care services in northern B.C.,” Northern Health said. “We are taking these temporary measures to ensure people can receive timely treatment as close to home as possible in one of our other cancer clinics.”
It added that it is “aggressively recruiting” to fill the vacancies in Dawson Creek.
Patients who have further questions are asked to contact Northern Health at 250-961-7724.
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