Latest news with #BCcancer
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
BC Cancer rolls out state-of-the-art scanner
Vancouver Watch BC Cancer has rolled out a new diagnostic tool that it says is the fastest and most advanced of its kind in Canada.
Globe and Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
BC Cancer chief medical officer and executive vice-president stepping down
Kim Nguyen Chi, who led BC Cancer through a period of tension and transition as the provincial agency sought to tackle growing wait times and adapt to the increasing demands of the future, is resigning from his leadership roles. Dr. Chi is set to step down as chief medical officer and executive vice-president of BC Cancer at the end of May, after six years at the helm. After taking personal time, he will return to his clinical practice, and to leading a prostate cancer research program in Vancouver on July 2. Penny Ballem, the interim president and chief executive officer at the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), which governs BC Cancer, is expected to name an interim leader for the agency in the coming days. In an internal memo, Dr. Chi said he was proud of how BC Cancer faced tough challenges head-on, including the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Pandemic measures forced the postponement of thousands of surgeries and exacerbated long-standing strains across health care. 'I took on this leadership role because I recognized the growing incidence, prevalence and complexity of cancer care that we were facing,' he said in the May 13 memo. 'With the launch of the 10-year cancer action plan, we have made a pivotal step forward to ensure that we have a cancer system that can deliver the care that is needed now and in the future.' PHSA did not make Dr. Chi available for an interview. BC Cancer has faced significant pressures in recent years. A 2022 Globe and Mail investigation found that shortages of medical and support staff, along with technology used to detect and treat cancer, had led to some of the longest wait times for cancer care in Canada. Staff reported surging burnout and low morale. In 2023, the province announced a 10-year cancer action plan with an additional $440-million in funding to BC Cancer over the first three years to address what Premier David Eby and then-health minister Adrian Dix referred to as 'warning signs' that the agency was not meeting key treatment benchmarks. Among progress made, Dr. Chi cited four new cancer centres – in Burnaby, Nanaimo, Kamloops and Surrey – that are expected to open by 2030, investments in the latest technologies and an unprecedented expansion of the work force. 'We added hundreds of new staff, enabling us to bring nurses back into outpatient clinics, support team-based care, increase provider capacity and improve timely access to radiation and chemotherapy,' he said in the memo. Dr. Chi, an oncologist with BC Cancer for more than 25 years, was appointed to his provincial leadership roles in July, 2019. Prior to that, he served two years as an administrative leader at the Vancouver cancer centre. In late March, the province announced that it would review its regional health authorities, beginning with PHSA. For this review of patient care and administrative spending, Health Minister Josie Osborne installed Dr. Ballem, who until then served as board chair at Vancouver Coastal Health. The province did not publicly provide terms of reference or target dates for the review. Dr. Ballem said in a statement Wednesday to The Globe that the goal of her review is to ensure that PHSA provides 'quality, culturally safe care and services in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.' She has engaged with thousands of PHSA staff through town halls and group meetings over the last six weeks, and this engagement will become 'increasingly more targeted and involve analysis of specific programs and services' moving forward, she said. Dr. Ballem added that she has provided the Ministry of Health with an update on her progress, and that it was her understanding that the government will provide a broader public update, including finer details about the PHSA review, in the near future.
