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One of the busiest chemotherapy wards in B.C. is adding six treatment chairs, an expansion it says will serve hundreds more patients each month.
B.C. Cancer is expanding services at its centre in Surrey Memorial Hospital, increasing its total number of treatment chairs to 39 — a 20 per cent increase in patient capacity.
The foundation says it will be accompanied by additional staffing.
“We are striving to treat more than 90 per cent of patients with their first treatment within two weeks of receiving their first diagnosis of cancer,” said Dr. Sylvie Bourque, the executive medical director at B.C. Cancer’s Surrey office.
The chairs serve patients undergoing systemic therapy, which includes chemotherapy and receiving immunotherapy medicines. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Bourque says demand for chemotherapy services in Surrey are steadily increasing.
According to B.C. Cancer, more than 10,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year in Surrey, representing about one-third of annual cancer diagnoses in B.C.
Surrey Memorial Hospital’s chemotherapy suite is the second-busiest in the province.
The chairs serve patients undergoing systemic therapy, which includes chemotherapy and receiving immunotherapy medicines that travel through the bloodstream to treat cancer.
B.C. Cancer says the additional seats will allow for 420 additional treatments each month, which will help reduce wait times.
Surrey Memorial Hospital is seen on Monday. The hospital’s chemotherapy suite is the second-busiest in the province. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“We need to keep up with our capacity to treat all of these individuals,” said Bourque.
The additional seats cost $1.4 million, paid for by donations.
New cancer centre
With demand for cancer services in the Fraser Health region on the rise, a new cancer centre is being built to treat patients.
The facility will be integrated with the new Surrey hospital in Cloverdale.
The new site is expected to have capcity for 105,000 ambulatory oncology care visits, 50,000 radiation therapy visits and 22,000 chemotherapy visits each year.
Construction of the new hospital and cancer centre is expected to be complete by 2030.