Small northern Ont. town loses access to mobile cancer screening
A northern Ont. city councillor says she fears many women will go without the proper health care after town loses access to mobile cancer screening.
"In late February, I was informed that the Screen for Life coach was no longer coming to Wawa," Wawa town Counc. Cathy Cannon told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an online interview.
Undated photo of Screen For Life mobile cancer screening bus operated by Thunder Bay hospital and serving northwestern Ontario. (Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre)
"I had phoned and asked why we weren’t on the list this year and I talked to one of the people in Thunder Bay and he said we were no longer on the list but not only us, White River, Dubreuilville, Hornepayne and Chapleau were no longer on the list, they only go as far as Marathon."
The bus is based out of the Thunder Bay hospital 478 kilometres away and offers mammograms, pap tests and tests for colon cancer.
Cannon said it usually comes to her community of just more than 2,700 people twice a year in the summer.
"When you look at the numbers, we had over 200 people access that bus just last year alone, just in Wawa, so people are using the bus," she said.
"And to find out we weren’t given any warning, we weren’t given anything that they weren’t coming. So it’s like OK, what do we do from here?"
Cannon said she had a meeting with the hospital's CEO who said they could set up pop-up tests for cervical and colon cancer screenings, but mammograms are harder to do that way.
"We don’t have the machinery for it," she said she was told.
- Download the CTV News app now
- Get local breaking news alerts
- Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox
Without any alternatives, it would force the town residents to make the 278-kilometre trip to Sault Ste. Marie and be treated at the Group Health Centre, which is already facing its own patient issues.
From Wawa, the drive to the Sault is two-and-a-half hours each way and more than four hours each way by bus.
"My worry is that women aren’t going to do it, they’re not going to start travelling to go for a mammogram," she said.
"To me,, it’s like the north is forgotten. They’ve set up clinics all along the North Shore, but nothing in this area, so we’re again left out in the cold."
Cannon said the older generation is not going to want to make the drive, particularly down Highway 17, during the winter.
The Town of Marathon, while closer, is still a two-hour drive.
Finding an alternative
At a town council meeting Tuesday night, Cannon laid out a passionate plea for support from her colleagues to approach the Ontario Ministry of Health for other alternatives to the cancer screening service they are losing.
Her resolution received unanimous support.
"I know that Thunder Bay is not going to be able to come back here because the age for screening has been lowered to 40," Cannon said.
"They have picked up more patients in their own area and I’ve been told they only did this as a courtesy because we had no one covering this area. So, they’re not going to be able to do it because they’re busy on their own."
The town councillor said she’s been in touch with Algoma – Manitoulin MPP Mike Mantha’s office and she’s hopeful Queen’s Park will take the town's concerns seriously.
"Without the screening, more women are … I think the cancer rate will go up," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Custom baseball card released of Blue Jays fan struck in the face with foul ball
Liz McGuire, the Blue Jays fan who was struck in the face with a 110 m.p.h. foul ball last week, has been pictured on a custom baseball trading card applauding her fandom to the game.
As Canada warms, infectious disease risks spread north
Cases of Lyme disease have now increased more than 1,000 per cent in a decade as the warming climate pushes the boundaries of a range of pathogens and risk factors northward.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Why did the French Open cancel a farewell ceremony for Rafael Nadal? And why is he unseeded?
The French tennis federation put off holding a ceremony to celebrate Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros this year, because he has said this might not necessarily be his final appearance at the tournament he has won a record 14 times.
Search underway for missing swimmer on Lake St. Clair
A search is currently underway for a Michigan man who police said jumped into the waters of Lake St. Clair on Saturday afternoon and did not resurface.