A major change is coming to the blood-related cancer services offered in the Territory.
The change? The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority recently announced that hematology-oncology services will be moved to Alberta.
This decision was made by Alberta Cancer Care as a way to ease the burden on NWT services. This change will only affect those who have the extremely specific types of cancer that relate to blood. It does not affect any other form of cancer treatment in the North, such as breast, lung, bowel, among others.
The first phase of this change will come into effect on May 1st, and will only relate to patients who are not undergoing active treatment at the time. These patients will have their next appointment of bloodwork take place in Alberta. The NWT Cancer Care Team will be in contact with the estimated 40 NWT residents who this change will affect in order to coordinate their treatment plans.
Any patient who is receiving chemotherapy or immunotherapy for blood-related cancers will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine if their treatments will also be transferred to Alberta, and for what length of time.
Additional information can be found by contacting the NTHSSA’s Cancer navigation program at 1-866-313-7989.
