Children’s chemotherapy delayed due to capacity limits at Stollery in Edmonton

Samantha Dornbush has been bringing her son Jackson to Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital for six years for treatment for high-risk B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer that primarily affects children.

Jackson, now nine years old, sometimes spent several days in the hospital receiving chemotherapy treatments before returning home.

Over the past two years, on at least three occasions, he said he would come to the hospital only when the staff told him that his treatment would be delayed as no beds were currently available.

“It was more disappointing than anything,” Dornbush said.

Each time she said they would have to wait two to four days for the next appointment to be scheduled.

Jackson has been in remission from his cancer since September. His last round of treatment followed a previous remission that lasted nine months, and his mother is still concerned about his recovery.

“I am very scared of another recurrence because her treatment this time was delayed so many times,” Dornbush said.

Many young patients in Edmonton have recently faced delays in chemotherapy treatments at Stollery Children’s Hospital due to a lack of space, according to Alberta Health Services.

“Patients whose appointments were postponed have begun treatment,” the health authority said in a statement released to CBC News. “This is not a regular occurrence, and we don’t expect it to become one.”

But Dornbush said she has faced an increasing number of chemotherapy delays in recent years compared to when she first started coming to Stollery with Jackson.

competition for space

“The bed shortage has become more acute,” said Dr. Sam Wong, a pediatrician with the Alberta Medical Association. He has worked at Stollery for 20 years.

He said he’s seen surgeries canceled or managers asked to discharge patients earlier than planned because they need to have more beds available for emergencies.

“It doesn’t happen very frequently, but it happens frequently enough that it’s causing problems,” Wong said.

Stollery has also begun using common spaces, such as playrooms, teen rooms or classrooms, to add more beds, she said.

“I am concerned,” Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Matt Jones said at a press conference on November 24. announcement of A site was selected by the Government of Alberta to build a new stand-alone Stollery Hospital.

“We’ve already seen this year that some chemo services for kids have been delayed by up to two days because of space constraints,” he said.

Jones said there is a strong desire to speed up construction because the current Stollery, which is inside a wing of the University of Alberta Hospital, will have to compete for space.

He said Stollery is one of the busiest acute care facilities in the province, serving families not only in Edmonton, but throughout northern Alberta, the Northwest Territories, BC Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Yukon.

Concerns about delays in chemotherapy go back years

According to another mother, whose daughter’s chemotherapy started in 2018, the problem of chemotherapy being delayed due to affordability issues is not a new thing.

“In her first cycle of chemo, she was late with every cycle, whether her body was ready for it or not,” Alana Janvier said.

His daughter Justine came to Stollery for treatment for osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. Janvier said her daughter’s treatment was postponed 13 different times over a two-year period. According to Janvier, each time he was told that the delay was related to lack of space.

“As a parent, you’re already scared,” she said. “Adding lack of a bed on top of cancer or any serious illness is unbearable.”

After going into remission, Justin’s osteosarcoma returned in 2020.

“When she was first diagnosed, it was very promising,” Janvier said.

“Then when she got sick again, they basically told me, …’We’re just extending her life.'”

In 2021, Justin died at the age of 12,

Janveer said knowing that multiple studies whoever searches Unplanned delay in chemotherapy treatment may decrease Survival prospects for osteosarcoma patients Raises painful questions to which she will never get answers.

New plans for stand-alone hospital offer some hope

Jones said it would likely take at least five to eight years to build a new stand-alone children’s hospital in Edmonton.

Wong said he hopes he will be retired before the new site opens and that doctors will continue to work within their constraints in the meantime.

“We can do the best we can with the resources we have, and the hardest thing is that there aren’t enough resources,” he said.

AHS said Stollery is currently facing inpatient capacity challenges, but an additional 10 inpatient beds are being added this week and will be open for respiratory virus season.

Janvier said the stand-alone Stollery announcement feels like it honors Justin’s legacy, even if it took years.

“Even though it doesn’t bring Justin back, it does mean that his experience can help future children… and that’s something he will be proud of,” she said.