B.C.'s Health Ministry says BC Cancer is ending its temporary program that saw some cancer patients having to travel to the United States for radiation therapy.
Health Minister Josie Osborne announced the end of the program Monday (April 7), noting wait times for cancer care in B.C. have improved over the last two years.
"Two years ago, of course, we said we wanted people to get care so we had arrangements with clinics in Bellingham to deliver radiation therapy. Those contracts are up at the end of May and we will not be renewing them."
The contracts with the two clinic in Washington are set to expire on May 11 and 31, and they will not be renewed. Nine patients are scheduled to complete treatment in the U.S. before the contracts end.
"By hiring more specialists, upgrading our hospitals, and expanding innovative treatments, B.C.'s 10-Year Cancer Action Plan is working to improve wait times for radiation therapy and meet national benchmarks. Thanks to the progress we've made over the past two years, we can now safely wind down this temporary program and focus on getting patients the care they need in B.C.," Osborne said.
The two-year program began in May 2023 at two clinics in Bellingham, Wash. BC Cancer offered eligible patients the option to travel for radiation therapy treatments while work was done in B.C. to build up the province's capacity for treatments.
The ministry said that by the end of February 2025 that 93 per cent of patients in B.C. were waiting less than four weeks to start their radiation treatment. That's reportedly above the national benchmark of 90 per cent, as well as a 24-per-cent improvement from 2023 when only 69 per cent of patients were starting treatments within four weeks.
As the wait times in B.C. began to drop, BC Cancer saw a "steady decline" in the number of patients choose to go to the U.S. for their treatment.
A total of 1,107 patients completed radiation therapy in the U.S. to date and at the peak of the program in the fall of 2023, there were an average of 50 patients travelling to Washington each week.
Based on current participation rates, it's estimated that 104 patients would access the program over the coming year if it were to continue – about 0.6 per cent of the 16,900 patients expected to need radiation treatment in 2025-26.
The province, when the program rolled out, anticipated 4,800 patients would seek treatments in Bellingham over the two years.
While she touted the decrease in wait times, Osborne said there is still more work to be done for cancer care in B.C., including the building of new cancer centres in the province and hiring more oncologists and specialists.
Osborne added the end of the program isn't related to Canada's, or B.C.'s, relationship with the United States amid an ongoing tariff war.
"No, this has always been about delivering more cancer care for people closer to home, so the investments we've made in more oncologists, more radiation therapists, improving hospital facilities, that's what's been able to enable us to reduce those wait times, reach the benchmarks that we wanted to reach and then we're able to stop these contracts."
