Erie Shores HealthCare now offers oncology services as a satellite clinic of the Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program.
The Oncology and Outpatient Care Clinic will provide chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments to patients in Essex County.
Patients will still need to have their initial visits at the Windsor Cancer Centre but can receive regular treatments at Erie Shores HealthCare.
"We're a satellite four clinic, so we don't do extensive treatments that may have severe adverse reactions," said CEO Kristin Kennedy. "It is stable regiments here in the organization and we do breast, lung, skin, gastrointestinal and urinary cancers."
The centre is currently seeing around five patients a day, four days a week. Expansion of the clinic is possible if it is needed.
Patients are already seeing the benefits of having a treatment centre closer to home.
"For about three years I have travelled back and forth to the cancer centre in Windsor for my treatments and between travel time and treatment time it would basically take me about half a day," said Kingsville resident John Loncke. "To come to Erie Shores which is 20 minutes from my home is a real option for me, it saves me time, I can play golf in the morning and be here in the afternoon for my treatments ."
The clinic is expected to increase capacity throughout the entire region.
"Cancer screening rates went very low during COVID which is an unfortunate phenomenon that's going to result in an explosion of late diagnosis cancers. So we're trying to get ahead of that. We're trying to get the capacity and the resources to make sure that everybody who comes in with a new diagnosis can get their treatment in a timely fashion," said Jonathan Foster, vice president of the Erie St. Clair Regional Cancer Program.