SYDNEY, N.S. — With high cancer patient numbers in Cape Breton, there was good news Thursday with details of the first steps for a new cancer centre released.
Linne MacNeil of Sydney, who has had two family members treated at the cancer centre, was happy with the news.
“It couldn’t be soon enough,” she said, adding the staff of the current cancer centre are out of this world.
“They treat people with such compassion and love. Now we are getting a bigger centre that will help more people. That’s a wonderful combination.”
Dr. Elwood MacMullin, senior medical director at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, said two new parking lots will open in order to divert parking from the current area at the back of the hospital.
“That means that we can now go ahead and start preparing the ground in that area because that’s where the location for the new cancer centre and new clinical services buildings are going to be.”
MacMullin, a surgeon in the area for more than 35 years, confirmed preparatory work will begin next week.
“We opened the current cancer centre in 1998,” he said. "At that time the cancer centre was designed to service 600 new patients annually. We have more than tripled that patient load since.
“We’re really excited about the possibilities and what’s coming down the line.”
Nova Scotia Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal is expected to announce the tender details today.
THE PROJECT
The cancer centre is part of the $38.4 million Cape Breton Regional Municipality Health Care Redevelopment project, a partnership between Nova Scotia Health and the Nova Scotia Government.
The project includes building a new Cape Breton Cancer Centre and a clinical services addition that includes an emergency department, critical-care department, 72 in-patient beds and surgical suites at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. A hub facility featuring a new school, modern health centre, long-term care home and new recreational facilities will be built in New Waterford, while the Northside is slated for a new, modern health centre, long-term care home and laundry centre that will serve the other hospitals. In Glace Bay, the hospital’s emergency department and surgical services will be expanded.
Although the massive overall project is estimated to be completed in five to seven years, MacMullin, who is co-lead of the project, said the cancer centre is projected for the earliest completion, which they hope will be close to the three- to four-year mark.
In the meantime, he said they have expanded the number of cancer services provided including in radiation oncology
"The capacity for the cancer centre has expanded and also the demand for treatment and assessments at the cancer centre has dramatically increased,” he added.
CANCER IN CAPE BRETON
MacMullin said the population in Cape Breton is aging and there are high incidences of all types of cancer: breast, colon, rectum, prostate and lung.
“That increasing demand means for the foreseeable future, we’re going to be seeing an increasing number of Cape Bretoners who are going to require cancer treatment in some fashion,” he said.
The cancer centre will allow most people the opportunity to receive their treatments at home instead of travelling to Halifax.
MacMullin said one of the most devastating periods of a patient’s life is to have a cancer diagnosis and be faced with difficult treatments and symptoms.
“To have to go through that alone without the support of a friend in the community is even more devastating,” he said.
“To be able to keep our patients home and deliver them high-quality care and treatment is a real boom to those cancer patients.”
MacMullin said they’ve introduced new techniques in radiation oncology, so they are able to deliver more directive, more specific and less toxic radiation treatment to many of their cancer patients.
“That is a whole new technology that is very exciting.”
In addition, over the past number of years, they have decreased the numbers of actual chemotherapy treatment but increased dramatically the number of oral cancer treatments.
“With that new capability that means we are able to get better results with fewer side effects,” he added.
While project planning continues, MacMullin said they are looking very carefully at staff requirements so they will be able to function day one of the opening of the cancer centre.
There will be different staff requirements, an increase in staff, all being assessed right now by a committee composed of oncologists, nurses, technicians and others.
“I suspect it will be a year or more before we have an idea of what kind of a change in staff complement is going to be required,” he said.
“It’s a very complex project, very hard to predict exactly the needs will be but they will be making their best estimates and start recruiting for those positions before opening the new cancer centre.”
However, since the announcement of the project, MacMullin said they’ve been very successful in recruiting a skilled, talented medical oncologist with extensive research experience who will join them in June.
“We were able to demonstrate to him that we were going to have this brand-new infrastructure and these new capabilities,” MacMullin said.
As well, it will be easier to attract family doctors. He said physicians train in large modern facilities and it’s easier to recruit when they know they will be able to continue in a modern facility.
Overall, MacMullin said he feels this is probably the most significant advancement in medical infrastructure he has seen in Cape Breton in his lifetime and probably long before that.
“This is going to bring our health-care infrastructure up to a level that’s on par with anywhere in Canada,” he said. “I think we should be very proud of it and I think we should be very active in supporting all the wonderful people working to make this happen.”
Sharon-Montgomery-Dupe is a breaking news and enterprise reporter at the Cape Breton Post.
