A joint announcement was made today by senior leaders from the BC Cancer Agency, the BC Cancer Foundation, and BMO Financial Group that will change the way we treat cancer in the Southern Interior.
Demand for a PET/CT scanner at an all time high, BMO Financial Group is partnering with the BC Cancer Foundation to make sure that patients have a better chance of being cured.
Around 9,400 PET/CT scans a year are performed at the BC Cancer Agency Vancouver Centre, where the provinces only two publicly-funded scanners are located. Despite this, only 7,775 scans are done a year.
Between Monday, September 11th and Tuesday, October 31st, BMO Financial Group will be matching all donations that go towards the funding for a PET/CT scanner for the BC Cancer Agency, Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre for up to $500,000.
"At BMO we believe in giving back to the communities where our customers and employees live," said Steve Jensen, regional vice-president of BMO Financial Group.
The technology, at the cost of $1 million, is expected to dramatically improve outcomes for the near 7,000 people expected to be diagnosed with Cancer by 2030.
Dr. Ross Halperin, regional medical director at the BC Cancer Agency for the Southern interior, says that it has the ability to save patients from unnecessary radiation treatment, surgery, and biopsies.
According to Dr. Halperin, PET/CT is technology that will change cancer treatment because unlike cat scanners and MRI, the PET/CT scanner can not only show a lump, but can also tell doctors what is inside a lump.
Halperin joined representatives from BMO and The BC Cancer Foundation to discuss the impacts a PET/CT scanner would have on cancer patients.
“This past week, and in fact right after this, I’m going to go see a patient… and the reason I’m seeing him is because of what his PET/CT showed,” says Halperin. “If we didn’t have any information from PET/CT scans, we wouldn't know where to focus radiation, we wouldn’t have been able to cure him.”
“Now he has a chance to be cured,” he adds.
We are extremely grateful to BMO Financial Group for their generosity in matching gifts for this campaign,’ says Cynthia Waldek-Peters, director of development at the BC Cancer Foundation. “We hope that individuals and corporations in our community will take part in this exciting offer and help drive this critical advancement in cancer care.”
Make a donation online at the BC Cancer Foundation website to help life-saving technology to the Southern Interior.
