Cancer survivors demand clarity on future of Edmonton facial reconstruction clinic
CBC
Michelle Fuller lost her right eye, cheekbone, some upper teeth and part of the roof of her mouth to cancer. A medical device made of metal and plastic allows her to speak, swallow and eat.
The prosthetic, called an obturator, is overdue for replacement but Fuller doesn't know who will perform the surgery or who will be responsible for her ongoing care.
Fuller, 55, of Canmore, Alta., is preparing to seek privatized care for the procedure due to uncertainty surrounding an Edmonton clinic that she has relied on for decades.
She is among a group of head and neck cancer survivors growing increasingly concerned about continuity of care at the Institute for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine (iRSM), operated by Covenant Health in partnership with Alberta Health Services.
Officials with Covenant Health say the clinic is not shutting down and that privatization is not being considered.
But long-term patients say physician contracts have been phased out, and the impending loss of the last remaining specialist on staff — a maxillofacial prosthodontist — has left them in limbo.
"I have to speak out because this issue is larger than me," Fuller said. "I need to advocate for those people who don't have a voice."
The iRSM clinic, based at the Misericordia Community Hospital in west Edmonton, provides highly specialized, publicly-funded services to people in need of facial and dental reconstruction following invasive cancer surgeries.
The clinic and research institute was established in 1993 as part of a joint initiative with the University of Alberta.
The institute has operated for decades, reconstructing jaws, teeth and facial bones destroyed by cancer, and helping patients live with the lasting damage caused by the disease.
Bernie Krewski, an Edmonton man who survived throat cancer, said the clinic has been phasing out contracts and quietly clawing back services for months.
He said no new patients are being accepted despite a waitlist that is now more than five years long with at least 150 patients waiting for care.
"They have told us nothing," said Krewski, who spoke with CBC with assistance from his wife, Patricia Siferd.
"Officials at Covenant Health, each of them seemed to have had a laryngectomy and can't speak. It's absolute silence."
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