Some patients opt to pay for U.S. cancer screening, even as new B.C. program seeks to alleviate backlog

West Vancouver resident Leah Rowntree found out she had cancer four and a half weeks ago. She had to wait a month for an ultrasound scan in B.C. after discovering a lump in her breast.

But it wasn't until she made a trip to the U.S. and had an MRI there that she learned it was a lot more serious than she'd been told.

While Rowntree, 49, was in L.A. for a scheduled vacation, her friend recommended she do everything she could to get a second opinion. 

After scrambling to get an MRI scan and paying $1,400 US, the B.C. resident discovered that her cancer was much more extensive than the ultrasound had shown.

"I went from having a clear mammogram to now having Stage 3 breast cancer, which is still potentially curable," she said.

Rowntree says that she feels lucky and that if she hadn't gotten that critical diagnosis, she might have been facing a worse prognosis in the months ahead.

As some B.C. cancer patients were offered trips to Bellingham, Wash., this week to take up radiation treatments in an effort to clear up a cancer treatment backlog, Rowntree is among a number of residents already paying for private cancer care south of the border due to lengthy wait times here.

Doctors say that while B.C.'s move to offer radiation treatments in Washington state will be helpful, the province still has to deal with other aspects of cancer care — like diagnostics — in order to help alleviate pressure on the system.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said that the target wait time for a patient to access radiation treatment is 28 days, and B.C. Cancer reports the target is being met for 82.9 per cent of patients.

Data shows that B.C. has lagged behind the national average over the last four years when it comes to cancer patients receiving timely radiation treatment.

Prostate cancer and breast cancer patients will be the first to be offered trips to Bellingham for radiation treatment, which will be covered by B.C.'s public health insurance system.

Leanne Kopp, the executive director of the Island Prostate Centre, says that wait times in the medical system have become longer and longer due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's a double-edged sword for patients because you know how great [it is] that there is a temporary solution," she said, referring to the plan to send patients to Washington state. "But … not only are you dealing with a cancer diagnosis, now you're dealing with the reality of not even being in your own community, in your own home, helping you heal during this stressful time."