BELLINGHAM, Wash. (KOMO) — British Columbia health officials will
send hundreds of cancer patients across the international border for treatment in Bellingham, Washington beginning this week in a multimillion dollar, desperate and controversial effort to restore government funded health care to some of its most vulnerable residents.
It is a highly unusual, yet not entirely unprecedented effort by the free universal health care system Canadians have long enjoyed.
It will also mean two Whatcom County, Washington clinics stand to make millions in payments from the British Columbia government.
“I don't think people who are suffering right now and in this immediate period should have to wait when there's an option that was available to us to address it right away,” said British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix in a lengthy interview with KOMO News in Vancouver. “In cancer care, we're seeing significantly increased demand and an aging population and some also some challenges with equipment and health resources. There’s always criticism, but I don't think the criticism can stop you from making the right decision."
The issue surrounds wait times for radiation treatment and the mandate for care within 28 days of diagnosis. BC Cancer doesn't hide the fact the province has seen wait times skyrocket, or “unacceptably high,” as Dix calls it. He cites stats that say patients meet the mandate 82.5% of the time, worst across Canada, and the 95% standard.
His critics dispute the math and say the numbers are actually far worse. In fact, people like Kevin Falcon suggest Dix should have seen the need coming and invested health resources in equipment to keep vulnerable patients from having to make the run to Bellingham at triple the cost.
“It’s the height of irony and perhaps hypocrisy, if I might say so, that they are always decrying the evil U.S. style healthcare system," said Falcon, who is also a former health minister and the opposition party BC United leader. "Yet, look what's happening. They're sending 20% of our cancer patients south to Bellingham to get looked after, which is the right thing to do, by the way. It's just unfortunate that we've got a government that has so mismanaged cancer care here, government-run cancer care that we're now having to send our patients down south and that's unfortunate."
Falcon also claims leaked documents put the actual treatment wait time rate percentage closer to 77%.
Meanwhile, both participating Bellingham clinics are saying they will welcome patients with open arms and availability. The ministry has already earmarked $39 million a year for two years to be spent on the program.
Dr. Alexei Polishchuk helps run the North Cascade Cancer Center in Bellingham and took KOMO News on a tour of the facility, which includes a linear accelerator designed to target tumors with high energy radiation. He says it has been handling roughly 35 patients a day, who often visit for a week to receive daily treatments. Polishchuk said he and his staff have room to grow and can handle the expected 2,400 Canadian patients a year.
Another Bellingham clinic, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center, will also handle the influx of foreign patients. In a statement to KOMO News, Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Jim Bochsler wrote, ”Recent upgrades to our radiation equipment – we added a second, state-of-the-art linear accelerator last year – significantly increased our ability to care for more patients. We were pleased that BC Cancer reached out to us to explore options for their patients, and we’re confident that this access to much-needed cancer treatment, combined with our other support services, will benefit patients throughout British Columbia.”
Dix said patients will be prioritized based on travel time, and the stage of the cancer. He added the agency will be focused “mostly on what we call a short stay radiation therapy” with a main focus on prostate and breast cancer patients. Each Washington clinic visit, for each patient, will cost $12,000 or about triple the price for providers in the province.
He shrugs aside any suggestion patients could go to neighboring Alberta, or buying up new radiation equipment would have been a better option. Dix also disputes the idea that the crisis has exposed flaws in Canada’s universal health care system.
“Let's look at the facts," Dix said. "Infant mortality, way better. Life expectancy, way better. Health inequality, way better. Response to COVID 19? Way better. Right? I mean, dramatically better."
"At every level of care, the Canadian system does better than the American system. It's not ideal. There’s criticism, right, of this action. But this is an action of seeing an opportunity to reduce the wait time people see, and taking advantage of that, because we're all in the same boat.”
When asked if the reliance on Whatcom County providers will be temporary, Dix said bluntly, “It will be,” adding, “No ifs, ands or buts.”
