Screen for Life Coach to Host TBRHSC Staff Cancer Screening Day

After four months on the road, the Screen for Life Coach is making a stop in Thunder Bay to offer cancer screening services to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute (TBRHRI) staff.

“Our staff have been working tirelessly and doing an incredible job to support patients and their families,” says Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President and CEO at TBRHSC and CEO at TBRHRI. “It’s time for staff to take care of their health and wellbeing. We are encouraging our staff to take advantage of this opportunity to get screened for cancer right at work.”

On July 27th, the Screen for Life Coach will be parked only steps away from the main doors of TBRHSC to provide breast, cervical and colon cancer screening before continuing its road trip across Northwestern Ontario.

Whether you are frontline, administrative or professional staff, it is important to get screened. Routine cancer screening is important because it can find cancer early when treatment has a better chance of working.

“We are thrilled to be bringing back Staff Cancer Screening Day this year,” says Lauren Beach, Mobile Coach Coordinator at TBRHSC. “Cancer doesn’t discriminate; it can affect health care workers too. It’s important to take the time to get screened for cancer even when you feel healthy and have no symptoms.”

Staff are encouraged to take 20 minutes out of their day to attend a cancer screening appointment if they are eligible. In Ontario, the cancer screening guidelines for average risk men and women are as follows:

• Women, who are between the ages of 50 and 74 years, should have a mammogram every two years to screen for breast cancer.
• Anyone between 21 and 69 years old with a cervix, who has ever been sexually active, should have a Pap test to screen for cervical cancer every three years.
• Individuals, who are between the ages of 50 and 74 years, who have no first-degree family history of colon cancer, should complete a take-home colon cancer screening kit every two years.

All of these cancer screening tests can be accessed on the Screen for Life Coach. Those who are eligible for screening do not require a referral from a health care provider to access services on the Coach and can access these services even if they have a primary care provider. However, an appointment is required.

Andrea Docherty, Program Director of the Regional Cancer Centre at TBRHSC, is one of 24 employees who will be getting screened on July 27th.

“Having turned 50 recently, it’s important for me to start screening regularly,” she explains. “I have my appointment booked and I hope that everyone who is eligible for cancer screening will consider taking advantage of this great service. All it takes is 20 minutes and there is no commute!”

You can book your cancer screening appointment on the Screen for Life Coach by calling (807) 684-7777.

To see the complete Screen for Life travel schedule, visit www.tbrhsc.net/screenforlife or follow us on Facebook by searching for ‘Screen for Life Coach Northwest’.