FORSETH – With no PET/CT scanner, doctors have one arm tied behind back

THOSE WITH a long enough memory (you’ll likely have either grey, or no, hair) may remember that in the lead-up to the Oct. 17, 1991 provincial election, NDP leader Mike Harcourt promised THREE new cancer centres would be built in the province.

They would be in Kelowna, Prince George, and in Kamloops.

Regarding the Kamloops Cancer Centre, a May 2013 story in BC Political Reports notes the following timeline commitments:

September 1991: The NDP candidate in the Kamloops riding claims clinic has been delayed 15 months so the Socreds can announce its construction after the election is called. (As of the 1991 election there are two Kamloops ridings – North Thompson and South).

October 4: Kamloops NDP candidate Art Charbonneau says his party is committed to the cancer-clinic project.

No sooner had Harcourt defeated the then governing Social Credit Party, in the ’91 election, than that promise fell by the wayside with a massive thud.

There would be NO cancer centre for Prince George … and NO cancer centre for Kamloops.

In the three and a half decades (34 years) that have followed, Kamloops residents have been betrayed, over and over again, as successive governments (both NDP and Liberal) made the same promises, never to be followed through on.

Until now ….

Last year (Feb. 8, 2024) the provincial NDP government once again guaranteed that Kamloops would finally get its much promised cancer centre. Problem is, what’s been promised, versus what is being built, is not what we in Kamloops need and deserve.

Instead, cancer treatment will be split over two different facilities (no other cancer clinic operates this way, including the 3 others that are being built) … and, unlike every other cancer centre in BC, ours will not have a PET / CT scanner.

Why is that important?  Well for two reasons.

In today’s (July 24) official ground-breaking announcement in Kamloops, BC NDP Health Minister Josie Osborne stated … “This centre is a vital step toward ensuring people in the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap region receive timely, high-quality cancer care, when and where they need it most.”

And from Bowinn Ma, Minister of Infrastructure, we heard … “By building a facility equipped with the latest technology designed to meet the growing treatment needs of patients in the area, we’re helping more people have access to high-quality cancer care closer to home.”

It can certainly be argued that having cancer care split over two different facilities is NOT high-quality cancer care … nor will it be high-quality cancer care as the new building will not be equipped with the latest technology.

Where is our PET/CT scanner? Because without it, the promise of “High quality cancer care’ all within a ‘facility equipped with the latest technology’ is simply not true.

And for those asking, “What the heck is a PET/CT scanner?”, an AI overview provides the following:

A PET/CT scanner combines two imaging technologies: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT). PET scans show how organs and tissues are functioning, while CT scans provide detailed anatomical images.

This combination allows doctors to pinpoint the location of abnormalities and assess their activity, which is particularly useful in diagnosing and staging cancer, as well as evaluating treatment response.

It seems to me that without having the PET/CT scanner, doctors will be trying to diagnose patients with one hand tied behind their backs. How does that fit with the latest technology to provide high quality care?

For three and a half decades Kamloops has fought to receive what was promised in 1991.

For three and a half decades we have also asked that the facility have the necessary equipment and technology to provide high quality cancer care.

WE have also asked that this be located within one building – NOT split over two.

This government has, despite today’s announced, failed on all counts. Once again, Kamloops gets the shaft.

Alan Forseth is a Kamloops resident. For 40 years he has been active, in a number of capacities, in local, provincial and federal politics, including running as a candidate for the BC Reform Party in the 1996 provincial election. He is secretary of the Conservative Party of B.C. He blogs at Thoughts on BC Politics and More.