EDMONTON — Every year, February 4th marks World Cancer Day, an important day to raise awareness and mobilize for improvements to cancer care. This year, we are calling on the Alberta government to publicly share more information on the plans for the continued operations of the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Friends of Medicare was pleased to see the new centre finally begin taking appointments in October, but we remain concerned that the public has yet to be provided a plan for full operations at this new facility.
“This new facility has the potential to be a ground-breaking cancer centre, and at 186,000 square metres, stands to become the largest health centre of its kind in Canada,” said Chris Gallaway executive director of Friends of Medicare. “But unfortunately for Albertans, that’s not what the government has announced as their plan. We still haven’t been provided details for how this facility will become fully operational as the world-class cancer centre it could and should be.”
In October, the Calgary Chapter of Friends of Medicare wrote a letter to the Minister of Health with a series of questions about the government’s plans for the new cancer centre, including what specific equipment will outfit the new centre, and what the workforce plan is for staffing the facility. Those questions have yet to be answered.
“Our Calgary Chapter wrote to the Minister back in October, and the only response received was the initial government news release from the opening of the facility, with no acknowledgement of the other questions about plans or timelines for the centre,” said Gallaway. “As concerns continue to grow over long wait times and lack of capacity impacting Albertans’ access to the cancer care they need when they need it, transparency about what is happening at the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre would go a long way to creating more certainty for cancer patients and their loved ones.”
Given that the new facility is seven times the size of the former Tom Baker Cancer Centre, it will certainly require many more staff. And given that new oncology referrals in Alberta continue to rise, there are thousands more people currently in need of cancer care in this province. Albertans will be looking to see funding be allocated in the rapidly-approaching provincial budget address to ensure this facility is fully resourced to provide the quality, timely cancer care that patients need and deserve.
“With Budget 2025 around the corner, the provincial government should announce a plan, along with appropriate funding, to get the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre fully staffed and operational as soon as possible,” concluded Gallaway.
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