A variety of resources for people who need to travel to seek cancer care are available from the Canadian Cancer Care Society.
When it comes to getting to treatment locations, the organization is partnered with Hope Air, which allows patients to travel via plane to cancer treatment centres and they run the Wheels of Hope program where volunteers drive patients where they need to go for care.
Carolyn Knox is the organization's senior director for access to care and said the organization has locations in the main cancer treatment areas of the province including Vancouver, Kelwona, Victoria and Prince George where people receiving treatment can stay if they're travelling for care. The organization also offers grants for people travelling out of their home communities who would prefer to drive to appointments.
While some small communities are relatively close to the province's main hubs of cancer treatment and may choose to drive to appointments, CSS wants to ensure that people have a place to stay where they're receiving treatment if they don't want to travel.
"Cancer treatment is hard on the body, it's hard on peoples' emotions, it's hard on them mentally. We don't want people to have to drive," she said. "We want them to be comfortable, we want them to concentrate on their treatment and getting healthy."
The program has existed since 2023 with support from the provincial government. Throughout 2024, over 3,100 people were supported with travel grants and over 26,000 nights of free accomodation were provided at the CSS's lodges.
"There are many patients out there that haven't heard of our services and we really want to get the word out to people about what's available to them and how to access it," she said. Knox explained people in the province's smaller communities in the north need to travel for cancer care. "There are community oncology centres around the north but the main site for cancer treatment, for diagnosis and where the majority of oncologists are is Prince George."
There is a cancer centre being built in Kamloops people in the south Cariboo will be able to access, but until it is complete Kelowna, Vancouver or Prince George are the closest large facilities for cancer treatment.
There are also some financial assistance programs offered by the CSS. Knox explained the CSS recently found cancer costs the average person around $33,000 once they've been diagnosed. Those costs can come from things like lost income, medications and travel for treatment and can cause some people to delay aspects of their treatment and affect their outcomes.
"We want to make sure that no one in B.C. questions whether they can afford cancer treatment, it shouldn't be a question in anyone's mind when they get that diagnosis," Knox said.
The organization funds cancer research as well, contributing $45 million to cancer research in 2024.
While BC Cancer doesn't have the numbers available for how many people in the Cariboo have to leave their home for treatment, they could provide the numbers of people in Northern Health and Interior Health who received cancer treatment in 2024.
Throughout both Interior Health and Northern Health, over 16,000 patients had over 67,000 consult or follow-up appointments at a BC Cancer centre in 2024. Both health authority regions have community oncology sites where some forms of cancer care can be given.
At the 100 Mile District General Hospital 2,270 IV chemotherapy-related treatments treatments were given from April, 2024 to Feb. 7, 2025. There were 1,908 treatments in the same timeframe at Cariboo Memorial Hospital and 3,433 IV chemotherapy treatments at the BC Cancer facility in Prince George throughout all of 2024.
People who want to support CSS through donations or volunteering, or those who want to find more information about the programs the organization offers can go to www.cancer.ca. Those who have questions about available supports or how to volunteer can also phone 1-888-939-3333.
