Westman to lose sole medical oncologist

Western Manitoba is losing its only medical oncologist in two weeks, leaving just 22 in the province — who all work in Winnipeg.

Brandon West MLA Wayne Balcaen raised the issue during question period in the provincial legislature on Thursday, saying the departure of Dr. Brady Anderson will be a “major loss” for the Westman region.

Anderson is the only practising oncologist outside of Winnipeg. After four years working out of the Western Manitoba Cancer Centre in Brandon, Anderson’s last day will be Nov. 13.

“He literally sees hundreds of patients within the Westman area, and now those individuals will have to travel to Winnipeg to get that personal service,” Balcaen said in an interview Thursday, calling Anderson’s impending departure “catastrophic.”

A medical oncologist is a cancer doctor who specializes in the treatment of cancer with chemotherapy or other cancer-related medicine, according to CancerCare Manitoba’s website.

In an interview Thursday, Anderson said his departure comes “after several years of strongly advocating to medical leadership” for more staff or resources.

“Anything would be helpful to make this a potentially sustainable work environment, but (I) was unfortunately denied,” he said.

As a born-and-raised Westman resident, originally from Reston, Anderson said his goal was always to practise in the area.

“I still deeply care about Westman and patients. This is where I’m from. This is where my family’s from, and I want them to make sure that they have access to the best possible care at all times,” he said, adding that his family is a big factor in his decision to stay in Manitoba, rather than move to another province.

After he leaves cancer-care treatment, he will begin practising general medicine at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, but hopes to one day return to oncology.

Until then, Anderson will no longer be allowed to prescribe any cancer-care medication, despite having the education and experience to do so.

He said he is worried about the impact on very sick patients “that need a more streamlined approach.”

“My biggest fear is that the sicker patients, that would normally be seen through the hospital system, are not going to make it to the other side. That they’re going to be lost in the grey zone of people who do not yet have a diagnosis,” Anderson said.

He said most cancer-care patients need a diagnosis before they can be booked to be seen by the specialist.

Anderson described his demand as “sky high” and said it’s “not infrequent that people will wait longer” to be seen in Brandon, rather than commute to Winnipeg.

He emphasized that “the needs of communities outside of Winnipeg are different than the needs within Winnipeg.”

Anderson said he typically works from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., but “it would be rare for me to ever leave before then.”

“And particularly disheartening is that, despite working significant amounts beyond what is requested in the contract, out of necessity, that (CancerCare Manitoba leadership) had declined to provide any other compensation for it,” Anderson said.

Balcaen said he views Anderson’s predicament as “constructive dismissal,” a situation in which the employer has failed to comply with the contract of employment in a major way or unilaterally changed the terms of employment, forcing the employee to quit.

“It’s extremely difficult for (Anderson). This decision did not come easy, and I could see it’s weighing heavily on him because he cares very much about his patients,” Balcaen said.

A spokesperson from Doctors Manitoba confirmed the current number of oncologists working in Manitoba in an email to the Sun.

“We see 23 medical oncologists listed today with only one in Brandon and the rest in Winnipeg,” the spokesperson wrote.

“According to our analysis of national data, Manitoba has about 20 per cent fewer medical oncologists per capita than the Canadian average.”

Contacted Thursday, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the NDP government has been “expanding the cancer-care services in (the Westman) region, and we will continue to do that.”

“We’ve invested in expanding cancer-care services in Prairie Mountain Health … (and) we’re training doctors in Brandon now,” Asagwara said.

A provincial spokesperson said in a written statement that “there continues to be one medical oncologist on staff as well as three radiation oncologists.”

The Western Manitoba Cancer Centre “is also staffed by two family physicians who have special training in cancer care,” the statement said.

» rgerrard@brandonsun.com