Mark Agnew describes his father, Don, as a self-made man who built his own construction company from the ground up. But he believes it was his dad’s relationships with people that were his top priority.
“He wanted to do his best and just be seen as a helpful person,” Mark Agnew said. “If there was a problem, he was the first one there to find a solution for a client or for friends or family.
“My dad was a people person first. He always valued relationships first above and beyond anything else.”
Don Agnew, 69, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2023. He received the results of a biopsy, but never had a follow-up with an oncologist.
The Cross Cancer Institute in Calgary eventually called the Agnew family in April 2023 to set up a follow-up appointment.
Don, however, didn’t make it to the appointment, according to his son. He died on May 6.
“We received a call from the Cross Cancer centre about 10 days before my father passed in hospice and that’s too late,” Mark said.
Experts from the Alberta Medical Association say the number of oncologists in Alberta is not keeping pace with the province’s aging population and its surge of newcomers despite an increasing number of cancer cases.
In Alberta, patients are often forced to wait months to see an oncologist before they can get started on cancer treatment. The target wait time is four weeks.
“When I see patients, they always wonder, ‘if I would’ve been seen sooner, would treatment have been different,’” said Dr. Brock Debenham, a radiation oncologist based in Edmonton.
“We do see, sometimes, where, if you look at their scans they’ve had months ago, they were potentially curable and then they come in and see you and now they’re not.
“It’s truly a life or death matter for some of these patients.”
Debenham said the solution requires a long-term investment in cancer care in Alberta.
He points to BC as an example of getting ahead of the problem, hiring more than 60 oncologists within the last two years.
“We need a similar program in Alberta where we say it’s not acceptable for a cancer patient to wait this long to be seen by an oncologist,” Debenham said.
In a report released in 2023, which studied the supply and demand for radiation oncologists, researchers found demand for radiation oncologists in Canada is expected to grow more quickly than future expansion in staffing levels.
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The study also recommends more residency positions in regions outside Ontario.
According to Alberta’s ministry of health, the province has recruited 17.2 full-time equivalent positions for 2024-25. Still, doctors don’t believe that tells the whole story.
Debenham said more than half of those new hires are meant to replace people who have retired or left to find work in other provinces.
One of the main reasons Alberta struggles to retain doctors is wages, according to the Alberta Medical Association.
Alberta Health has said it is working with the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary to increase the number of undergraduate medical training seats and residency positions, which would enable more than 100 additional Alberta-trained physicians to practice annually.
In a statement, the ministry said it is working with Alberta Health Services to recruit more physicians. It added that Cancer Care Alberta hired 115 new and replacement clinical support in 2023.
Despite tragically losing his dad, Mark Agnew said he considers his family lucky. They found a friend working in the medical community who was able to interpret his dad’s biopsy results.
“He immediately got on the phone with us and sat down with my parents and walked them through the steps and broke the bad news,” Mark said.
Seeing an oncologist may not have given Don Agnew more time with his grandchildren, Mark said.
Still, his family worries for other cancer patients who are left waiting for care.
“If I didn’t have that network of friends to interpret the results … I don’t know what we would have done,” Mark said.
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