B.C. cancer patients will no longer go to U.S. for treatment, province announces

Emily Fagan · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 07, 2025 8:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Cancer patients successful British Columbia volition nary longer beryllium referred to clinics successful Bellingham, Wash., for care, Health Minister Josie Osborne announced Monday.

Osborne says the ministry's determination was not a effect of the existent U.S.-Canada commercialized warfare but owed to declining information successful the programme and shorter hold times for attraction successful B.C.

"This has ever been astir delivering much crab attraction for radical person to home," she said.

"The investments we've made successful much oncologists, much radiation therapy, therapists, improving infirmary facilities, that's what's been capable to alteration america to trim those hold times."

WATCH | How overmuch does the U.S. crab attraction program outgo B.C.? 

The program, which has permitted 1,107 crab patients to implicit radiation treatment, was introduced to assistance conflict agelong delays for attraction wrong B.C. An mean of astir 50 British Columbians a week received attraction successful Bellingham astatine the program's highest successful the autumn of 2023.

Osborne says it volition reason erstwhile contracts expire with the 2 backstage U.S. clinics astatine the extremity of May — two years aft it was archetypal announced.

She says it was planned arsenic a impermanent measurement to trim hold times portion the state strengthened its ain capableness for providing radiation therapy.

The state has paid much than $32 cardinal for the programs arsenic of the extremity of March 2025.

Osborne says that involvement successful seeking attraction done these clinics has declined, coinciding with an betterment successful hold times for attraction wrong B.C.

About 93 per cent of British Columbians are present waiting little than 4 weeks to commencement radiation treatment, according to the province, supra the nationalist benchmark of 90 per cent.

This is simply a 24 per cent summation from erstwhile B.C. archetypal announced plans to nonstop patients to the U.S. for attraction successful the outpouring of 2023.

Paul Adams, enforcement manager of the B.C. Rural Health Network, says helium is cautious astir what the cancellation of this programme could mean for the hold database of radical awaiting treatment, peculiarly erstwhile enactment to adhd determination crab attraction centres crossed the state is not complete.

"Our interest volition beryllium however radical are going to beryllium treated successful a timely fashion," helium said.

John Rustad, the person of the B.C. Conservatives, echoes the concern.

"If radical request the service, they request to beryllium capable to get it wherever they tin get it," helium said.

"I'm conscionable disquieted that immoderate patients are not receiving [care], that immoderate patients are slipping done the cracks."

WATCH | B.C. crab patients being treated successful Bellingham, Wash.: 

Nine patients are inactive successful the process of undergoing attraction astatine the 2 backstage Bellingham clinics; however, the state says they are expected to decorativeness anterior to the session contracts expiring successful May.

The Ministry of Health estimated that astir 104 patients would proceed to entree the programme implicit the adjacent year, had it continued but says the health-care strategy has the capableness to dainty these patients wrong B.C. instead.

It's estimated that fractional of British Columbians volition beryllium diagnosed with crab successful their lives, according to B.C. Cancer.

When asked by CBC News, Osborne did not specifically accidental however crab attraction facilities and staffing person changed to conscionable the request of patients, but said determination person been recruitment efforts targeted astatine increasing the fig of oncologists and radiation therapists. 

Since April 2023, B.C. Cancer says it has hired 56.6 full-time equivalent physicians. It has also hired astir 20 aesculapian oncologists and 8 radiation oncologists.

The state presently has six crab attraction centres and is moving to adhd much successful Nanaimo, Kamloops, Surrey, and Burnaby.

Leanne Kopp, enforcement manager of Island Prostate Centre, said she was amazed to perceive astir the cancellation of the program. Patients of hers who received attraction done the Bellingham clinics each returned, reporting their restitution with the enactment and attraction disposable there, she said.

However, having entree to attraction person to location — and without having to transverse into the U.S. during a clip of heightened tensions — tin lone beryllium a bully happening if B.C. tin conscionable the demand, she said.

"If the programme is nary longer running, and that's based upon the capableness of patients being capable to get treated present successful the aforesaid magnitude of time, I spot that arsenic a win-win," said Kopp.