Men’s health clinic the first of its kind in Canada
It’s a guy thing. But unfortunately, it’s not a cool guy thing.
The unvarnished truth is that we suck when it comes to taking care of our health. Men die, on average, seven years earlier than women. The suicide rate among men is four times that of women. We are more prone than women to heart disease. And yet we are 25 per cent less likely to have visited a health-care provider in the past year. There is an old joke about a man who goes to the doctor complaining of seeing spots. The nurse asks, “Have you ever seen a doctor?” And he replies, “No, just the spots.”
So the message is abundantly clear. We have to be more proactive when it comes to taking care of our health.
Thanks to the newly opened men’s health clinic at the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre, we now have a place that will oversee PSA testing, blood glucose, blood pressure, waist circumference and mental-health concerns.
The concept of the clinic was a result of information gathered through the MAN Van, which has seen more than 40,000 patients.
More than 60 per cent of these patients faced a variety of health risks preventable with regular visits to the doctor. The clinic, the only one of its kind in the country, sees male patients who have been referred by a doctor for reproductive or prostaterelated issues.
The clinic would not have become a reality were it not for support from Dr. Shelley Spaner, a radiologist and partner in Mayfair Diagnostics and a Prostate Cancer Centre board member, along with the Bill Brooks Prostate Cancer Benefit and an anonymous donor.
Dozens of guests gathered at the Prostate Cancer Centre (PCC) June 6 for the official ribbon cutting of the new 3,000-square-foot facility. Highlights of the evening included congratulatory remarks from PCC board chair Jon Truswell of Bennett Jones, and PCC executive director Pam Heard, a passionate address from keynote speaker Doug Driediger, and cocktails and fabulous catering provided by Hotel Arts.
Guests included Spaner’s sister Donna Spaner; PCC board members Rick Lancaster, Maryse St. Laurent, Nipa Chakravarti, Dr. Bryan Donnelly, Dr. John Dushinski, Dr. Eric Hyndman and Andrew Abbott, to name but a few; philanthropist Dorothy Woolstencroft; Heritage Park’s Alida Visbach; Postmedia’s Laura Linnell; Advance Your Cause’s Samantha Morahan and Tom Dodd; MAN VAN program’s Ken Rabb; Alberta Health Service’s project manager Courtney Funk and project co-ordinator Neville Fleming; Hotel Arts’ Brian Brownlee; PCC staff Roby Brar, Lori Styner, Eva Moreau, Linda MacNaughton, Dave Bateman, Anthony Prymack, Shannon De Vall and Sheldon Semmler; and scores of invaluable volunteers.