More Foothills cancer patients will be able to get chemotherapy treatment closer to home later this year.
Michael Brown, executive director of the High River and District Hospital Foundation, revealed Jan. 14 work to expand and improve the cancer clinic at the High River Hospital is scheduled to begin this week.
He said the new facility should open in November 2016.
Brown said the project will improve comfort and care for patients and allow more Foothills residents to get treatment closer to home.
“The biggest thing is it’s so people from Okotoks and from High River don’t have to drive out to the Tom Baker (Cancer Centre at Foothills Hospital in Calgary), do chemo and have to drive back in rush hour traffic,” he said.
Brown said the final price tag hasn’t been determined, but the expansion is expected to cost around $1.6 million. Fundraising initiatives will cover the vast majority of the cost and the foundation’s reserves will cover whatever isn’t raised through donations.
The High River Hospital cancer clinic sees patients from Foothills communities, and others from as far south as Claresholm, even some from south Calgary. At one point the clinic was seeing as many as 160 patients a month, but it typically sees around 130 per month.
It has been temporarily moved to the second floor of the hospital during construction.
Brown said the existing clinic is in a small, “grizzly” space with four chairs squeezed in tightly not giving patients much comfort or privacy.
“For 10 years there’s a small treatment room that has had four chemo chairs in it and the room is tiny and just not sufficient for the usage it was getting,” he said.
Brown said the expansion will significantly improve the level of comfort for patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the hospital.
The clinic currently has four chairs and the expansion will add a fifth chair and expand the clinic’s area giving patients and staff more room. The project includes replacing existing chemo chairs with newer models.
“It’ll have more capacity in so far as they can run longer hours, they can do more days in a week and also the biggest thing is patient comfort and safety,” said Brown.
For Dr. Adam Vyse, a physician at the cancer clinic, the most obvious benefit is more space, allowing for privacy, conversations with patients, and the ability to treat more people.
“It’s really a great little clinic,” said Dr. Vyse.
To him the impact on the community is immense, being able to get the same quality of care at the High River clinic and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.
The foundation teamed up with the High River Rotary Club to raise money for the expansion.
Cathy Couey, the foundation’s fund development officer, said the foundation and Rotary clubs committed to raise $500,000 each for the clinic. The foundation exceeded its goal, raising $750,000 and the Rotary Club raised $500,000. The remainder of the expansion cost will be covered by the foundation’s reserves.
As the foundation announced work was set to begin, it also received its latest donation to the project.
The Okotoks Firefighters Association donated $5,770 to the cancer clinic on Jan. 14. The funds were raised at the annual firefighter’s ball in 2015. The association also donated the same amount to the Alberta Children’s Burn Fund.
Okotoks fire department captain Dave Hodgins said cancer treatment is a work hazard for most firefighters, making it an important cause for them to support.
“We try to prevent it ourselves but also having good quality care is important for us,” he said. “Also, we just had so many friends and family in the area affected by cancer that we really wanted to support that cause.”
