NHS Oncology Program (Important Phone Numbers)
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The Oncology Program provides inpatient and outpatient services for the residents of the Niagara region diagnosed with a malignant disease, including consultation and assessment, diagnostic procedures, chemotherapy administration and management of related side effects, education, support and follow-up care at St Catharines General Site. The inter-professional team delivering supportive and clinical care is made up of Medical Oncologists, Hematologists, consulting Radiation Oncologists, specialized Oncology Registered Nurses, Social Workers, Spiritual and Religious Consultants, Nutritionists, Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, Clerical support and Volunteers. The team provides client-focused, comprehensive, co-ordinated care and treatment.
The program supports an active RN-led Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) team and works in partnership with the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Community Care Access Centre, Canadian Cancer Society, Wellspring Niagara and Hospice Niagara. Weekly peripheral clinics operate out of Welland Hospital Site and Greater Niagara General Site (Niagara Falls) providing care closer to home, including consultation and follow-up services.
Clinical research is conducted through clinical trials in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, the Ontario Clinical Trials Oncology Group and industry partners. The Oncology Program is affiliated with the Juravinski Cancer Centre and Cancer Care Ontario. Niagara's Walker Family Cancer Centre is slated to open in 2011-12 in the new St. Catharines health-care complex, at which time the Oncology program will evolve to a full-service Cancer Centre, including radiation therapy.
An important community partner for our cancer patients is the Niagara Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society. Whether it is a ride to cancer treatment, information on cancer and resources or connecting with someone who has been through treatment, the cancer society is just a phone call away. For more information on services available, please click HERE.
Outpatient Oncology Clinic at St. Catharines General Site
The inevitable reality is that today, someone in Ontario is diagnosed with cancer every eight minutes. We all know someone or of someone – mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends and neighbours, young and old – who have been touched by this disease.
Fortunately, the Outpatient Oncology Clinic at St. Catharines General Site (SCG) of the Niagara Health System (NHS) is here to care for and support Niagara residents throughout the continuum of cancer care.
Located on the third floor of the Moore/McSloy Wing at SCG, the Outpatient Oncology Clinic provides outpatient services including consultation, diagnostic procedures, education, support, chemotherapy treatment and follow-up for the vast majority of cancer patients.
Patient-centred care is provided by an interprofessional team of medical oncologists, specialized nurses, a palliative care physician and consulting radiation oncologists working collaboratively with the social worker, spiritual and religious care consultant, nutritionist, pharmacists, physiotherapists and others to support patients through the delivery of their personalized treatment program.
The Clinic has a longstanding relationship with Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) and the Hamilton Health Sciences' Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC). A coordinated, supportive relationship with CCO and the JCC ensures comprehensive, integrated cancer services are available for the people of Niagara.
"We are thankful for our partnership with the Juravinski Cancer Centre and Cancer Care Ontario as it allows us to provide seamless care for patients requiring radiation treatment," explains Trudy Street, Manager of Clinical Oncology Services at NHS. "Radiation treatment is currently not available in Niagara, causing patients and radiation oncologists to travel between Hamilton and Niagara for treatment and related services."
The Clinic works hand-in-hand with several other community and system partners including:
- Ontario Breast Screening Program
- Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Community Care Access Centre
- Canadian Cancer Society, Niagara Unit
- Hospice Niagara
- Wellspring Niagara
- Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Community Hospice Palliative Care Network
- Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre
- Clinical trials organizations such as National Cancer institute of Canada
The NHS also provides satellite clinics at the Greater Niagara General (GNG) and Welland Hospital (WHS) Sites where consultation, follow-up and supportive care is provided to outpatients and inpatients promoting care as close to home as possible.
Walker Family Cancer Centre
The Oncology Program will evolve to a full-service cancer centre when the new health-care complex is constructed, aided by the generous philanthropic donation from Walker Industries. The Niagara Regional Cancer Centre, which will be substantially complete in 2011, will be known as the Walker Family Cancer Centre.
NHS, as the host hospital, will partner with Cancer Care Ontario to jointly operate the cancer centre, which will provide ambulatory cancer care, including: prevention, early detection, supportive care services and systemic and radiation therapy.
Once operational, the new cancer centre will become the hub of a coordinated regional cancer treatment network for Niagara, serving the more than 2,500 Niagara residents diagnosed with cancer each year.
This means that 95 per cent of Niagara cancer patients will be able to receive their chemotherapy and radiation treatment in the Niagara region; allowing them to make this personal journey at home, here in Niagara.
"Thanks to the support of initially the Hotel Dieu and now the Niagara Health System, as well as Cancer Care Ontario, and especially thanks to the tremendous dedicated staff in our clinic, we have been able to provide a level of care to cancer patients in Niagara that has served as a model for community cancer clinics for 23 years," says Dr. Brian Findlay, Chief of Oncology Services for the NHS. "With the new Walker Family Cancer Centre, we will be able to achieve our goal of providing that care almost entirely in Niagara."