Radiologists warn 'dangerously long' wait times could worsen as B.C. clinics at risk of closure

Months after they warned that waits for critical medical imaging were worsening and could lead to a “tsunami of cancer cases.” B.C.'s radiologists say private clinics doing half the screening are so underfunded they may shut down.

Months after they warned that waits for critical medical imaging were worsening and could lead to a “tsunami of cancer cases, British Columbia’s radiologists say private clinics doing half the screening are so underfunded they may shut down, plunging patients into even longer waits. 

The BC Radiological Society tells CTV News that inflation has heavily impacted clinic costs, with a 25 per cent spike for equipment, technical fees, and wages, but the provincially-set rate for their services has only grown by 5 per cent and clinics can no longer eat the costs.

“They're losing money and it's just not sustainable,” said the organization’s president, Dr. Charlotte Yong-Hing.

“The situation is critical because patients are (already) waiting six to nine months for biopsies and patients are going to be diagnosed later when their cancer is at a later stage and it's harder to treat.”

She says the private clinics are more efficient than health authority-run medical imaging labs, and that if they close the publicly run system cannot absorb the tens of thousands of scans that are already taking too long, adding waits for mammograms and breast cancer screening are "dangerously long."

CTV News has asked the Ministry of Health to comment on the situation but they have not responded. Whether government plans to provide temporary stop-gap funding as it had when it bailed out family doctors last year, or if it would buy out the clinics as it has with other medical imaging providers is unclear but both are possibilities based on previous actions.

Cancer diagnosis is the biggest concern, since time is of the essence in diagnosis and treatment and often relies on the X-rays, mammograms, and ultrasounds performed by the publicly funded, privately run clinics.