Royal Inland Hospital today celebrated the opening of the Rae Fawcett Breast Health Clinic that will hopefully decrease anxiety for breast health patients.
Interior Health says patients in the Kamloops region will now have access to centralized outpatient services that will help reduce wait times for a breast cancer diagnosis.
The new integrated clinic is being described as a one-stop shop for breast health care where patients are able to access a single-visit triple assessment, when appropriate, of clinical examination, diagnostic imaging and tissue sampling.
The road to cancer diagnosis, or news a suspected diagnosis is not cancerous, can require multiple appointments and follow-up consultations. Interior Health says the coordinated pathway at the new clinic will help speed up the time for tests, results and, if needed, surgical referral.
Dr. Liz Eward was instrumental in the creation of the Rae Fawcett Breast Health Clinic and, in a media release, said the clinic will make the diagnostic system in the community more efficient and easier to navigate.
“I got involved with the establishment of this clinic after my own breast cancer diagnosis. As a patient, I recognized how difficult it could be to navigate the breast cancer diagnostic system,” she said in the release.
Rae and Ron Fawcett are longtime Kamloops philanthropists who have contributed to many Kamloops institutions and programs, including Thompson Rivers University, The Boys and Girls Club, the Kamloops Symphony, the B.C. Wildlife Park and the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation.
They donated $1 million to the RIH Foundation to help create both the Rae Fawcett Breast Health Clinic and Rae Fawcett Simulation Centre.
The breast health clinic opened on May 30th and will be open three days per week, initially accepting referrals from BC Cancer’s Screening Mammography Program before expanding to acceptance of family physician referrals.
