Throat and lung cancer surgeries at risk here

Proposed cuts that would end funding for lung and esophageal cancer surgeries at Hotel-Dieu Grace hospital would be devastating for Windsor, lung disease specialist Dr. Deborah Hellyer said Wednesday.

Cancer Care Ontario is saying it will stop funding the surgeries which means patients would have to travel to London and would face longer wait times, said Hellyer, a past president of the Essex County Medical Society which has been lobbying to keep the funding.

?It?s definitely going to impact patients here and it?s also going to impact physicians in accessing these valuable services,? Hellyer said.

?I feel it?s a domino effect when you start losing something valuable as that it is going to start affecting other types of services.?

Dr. Deborah Hellyer

Hellyer said three doctors handle more than 50 surgeries a year which should qualify Windsor for a Level 2 designation and the funding from Cancer Care Ontario. Kingston and Thunder Bay meet the guideline and get the funding, she said.

The society has been lobbying for months to maintain the funding here.

Hellyer said it is especially important in Windsor since the area has higher rates of lung cancer than the provincial average. She fears the cuts may mean doctors who do the surgeries will not be able to stay in Windsor. They do other non-cancer surgeries which could be affected.

It will be difficult on patients and their families to get the surgery in London. She said Windsor has a good cancer clinic, a medical school, wait times below the provincial average and excellent quality of surgical care.

The board of Hotel-Dieu hospital is expected to meet later this month to see if it could fund the surgeries but Hellyer worries about the hospital finding that money since it has a deficit.

?It makes it difficult especially in recent economic times.?

Essex County Warden Tom Bain, who told county council of the cuts at its Wednesday meeting, said he was told London is ?full up? so patients would probably have to go to Toronto.
?What will they cut next?? said Bain.
County council is sending a letter to Cancer Care Ontario and the Erie St. Clair LHIN to urge that the funding be maintained.

Source: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/01/16/throat-and-lung-cancer-surgeries-cut/

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