Opposition criticizes B.C. government for plan to send cancer patients to U.S.

The Opposition B.C. United Party criticized the ruling B.C. NDP Tuesday for its plan to send some cancer patients to the U.S. for radiation treatment.

Under the plan, which was first announced in May, up to 50 patients weekly could choose to go to one of two clinics in Bellingham, Wash., about 40 kilometres south of the Canada-U.S. border, for treatment.

At the time, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the plan would tackle ballooning waits in the province's cancer care system, specifically for radiation treatment for breast cancer and prostate cancer patients.

Since the scheme began on May 29, 310 patients have gone to the U.S. for radiation treatment, according to statistics released to the B.C. United Party under a Freedom of Information request.

The Opposition says the numbers fall short of the province's target of 50 patients per week, and the B.C. NDP government isn't doing enough to ensure high-quality care within the province.

"Under this premier's watch, B.C.'s once world-leading cancer care system has dramatically deteriorated, plummeting to some of the worst wait times in the country," Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon said in the Legislature Tuesday.

"The daily reality for cancer patients is endless waiting, deteriorating health and lives lost because of the tragic failure to provide basic access to cancer care."

Falcon said some patients are choosing to self-fund their treatments in the U.S. as opposed to waiting to get a referral from the B.C. cancer care system.

"The premier's Band-Aid response to the crisis is grossly underdelivering and failing to meet their own targets they set," he said.

According to the data provided to the B.C. United Party, just under 250 patients refused to travel to Bellingham for radiation as they wanted to get treated within Canada. 

A further 164 patients are listed as having simply "refused U.S. treatment".

Shirley Bond, MLA for Prince George-Valemount and the Opposition health critic, also pointed to statistics that showed zero patients from Interior Health had travelled using the scheme and only 14 patients from Northern Health had done so.

"This government made a promise to British Columbians and they have failed abysmally," she said. "In fact, the outsourcing of B.C. patients is a failure." 

Temporary solution: Dix

In response, Dix said Interior Health was not referring patients to be treated in the U.S. due to the fact that wait times for radiation treatment were "dramatically less" in that health authority compared to others.

"Hundreds of people getting care is good news. Those who made the choice to go [to Bellingham], and who are supported in going there, are getting excellent care there," the health minister told reporters. 

"This is positive and this is what we're going to continue to do for a while."

Dix says the contract with the two U.S. facilities is for two years, but that he wouldn't expect it to last that long as the province is working to provide more capacity under its 10-year, $440-million cancer care plan.

He says the province has hired an "unprecedented" number of oncologists and radiation specialists since April.

The health minister also pointed to funding allowing cancer patients to travel for treatment and the announcement of a new cancer care facility in Nanaimo, as ways the province is trying to improve its cancer care system.

"What we have … is a 10-year cancer plan that is comprehensive in its response," Dix said on the floor of the Legislature.

"That's why we are massively investing in public health care after, frankly, a decade of inaction."