Yukon residents will benefit from B.C.'s plan to send cancer patients to U.S.

As B.C. announces plans to send cancer patients to the U.S., many Yukoners wonder what this means for their cancer treatment.

Yukon residents who receive medical care in B.C. could benefit from the newly announced provincial plan to send cancer patients to the U.S., a Provincial Health Services Authority spokesperson told CTVNews.ca.

Last week, the B.C. government disclosed its new plans to send up to 50 B.C. residents per week to clinics in Bellingham, Wash., for radiation treatment. Starting on May 29, this initiative is expected to last for two years.

“If a patient from the Yukon is referred to BC Cancer, they would be screened for eligibility for the out-of-country radiation therapy program by their physician,” the PHSA spokesperson wrote in an email Tuesday.

Many northern residents have to travel to B.C. or Alberta for medical treatments due to limited resources in the territory.

According to the territory’s Department of Health and Social Services’ survey, 3,961 Yukoners travelled under the territory’s medical travel program between April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019. This includes Yukoners who travelled for their own medical needs, as well as those who travelled to accompany a child or dependant or as an approved travel escort.

In the Yukon, approximately 170 people are diagnosed with cancer each year, said the PHSA spokesperson, although not all require radiation therapy services through BC Cancer.

Karin Stephens, a member of the Paddlers Abreast, a group of breast cancer survivors from northern B.C. and Yukon, says the hardest part of the process is the current long wait times for treatment.