Help Double PET/CT technology in B.C.
Your gift will be matched until Oct. 31
The BC Cancer Foundation has partnered with BMO Financial Group to help meet a rising demand for PET/CT scans in British Columbia—currently at an all-time high.
From now until October 31, gifts made to support the BC Cancer Foundation’s campaign to double PET/CT technology in B.C. will be matched. BMO Financial Group has generously offered to match gifts up to $500,000.
PET/CT scanners are the most advanced diagnostic tool available today and will dramatically help to improve outcomes for the estimated 28,000 people across B.C. diagnosed with cancer every year. That figure is only expected to increase with time.
The campaign will fund two new PET/CT scanners at BC Cancer’s Vancouver Island Centre in Victoria and BC Cancer’s Sindi Ahluwalia Centre for the Southern Interior in Kelowna. The additional equipment will alleviate pressure on the province’s two scanners located in Vancouver.
“We are proud to partner with the BC Cancer Foundation to bring this critical care tool closer to home for those in need,” says Paul Seipp, Regional Vice President, BMO Financial Group.
“At BMO we believe in giving back to the communities where our customers and employees live. The resources provided by this donation will help change the outcomes for families facing cancer across British Columbia.”
A PET/CT scanner houses some of the most sophisticated imaging technology currently available, enabling oncologists to develop the most appropriate treatment plan for patients with cancer, says Dr. Pete Tonseth, radiologist and nuclear medicine physician at the BC Cancer Agency.
“It often changes [treatment] management, which means some patients can be spared procedures and treatments such as biopsies, surgery or radiation therapy that are deemed unnecessary,” he adds.
Demand for PET/CT scans has grown to more than 9,400 scans a year, far above annual capacity of just 7,775. With an expected jump to 12,000 scans by 2020, there is an urgent need to double PET/CT technology in B.C.
Currently, patients and their families from around the province have to travel to Vancouver for this critical test. It’s an experience that Brenda Jagdis knows all too well.
Brenda was only 49 and a mother of three when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While still reeling from her new cancer diagnosis, Brenda had to travel from the Island to the BC Cancer Vancouver Centre for a PET/CT scan.
Her kids—ages 12, 16, and 18, at the time— were incredibly frightened by the recent news of their mom’s cancer, she recalls, so instead, she made the long journey to Vancouver and back in a single day. It was a cumbersome and emotionally difficult journey, she says.
“The whole trip, I tried keep the worrisome thoughts at bay,” she says.
“Will I be there to see them graduate, establish careers, get married? Will I miss out on meeting my grandchildren?”
With the rate of cancer expected to increase due to population growth and ageing, now is the time to double the province’s capacity for
PET/CT technology.
“We are incredibly grateful to BMO Financial Group for their generosity in matching gifts to support the acquisition of two new PET/CT scanners in British Columbia,” says Sarah Roth, President and CEO, BC Cancer Foundation.
“We encourage our fellow British Columbians to take advantage of this opportunity and help change the course of cancer care in our province.”
The matching gift opportunity will run until October 31, 2017. To make a donation, visit www.bccancerfoundation.com/MATCH
Your gift will be matched until October 31st! BMO Financial Group is matching gifts, dollar-for-dollar, up to $500,000!