National Heath Care System Wait time 'agonizing'

May 8, 2009

Wait time 'agonizing'

Couple donate $12.5M to Breast Cancer Rapid Diagnosis program

By IRENE THOMAIDIS, SUN MEDIA

Last Updated: 8th May 2009, 3:16am

Even being married to one of the richest men in Canada didn't speed up

Emmanuelle Gattuso's breast cancer diagnosis.

After finding a lump on her breast in December 2002, it took several weeks to

get the diagnosis.

" It's an agonizing wait, " Gattuso said. " And studies have shown that stress can

have a negative impact on a patient's condition. "

Yesterday, Gattuso -- together with her billionaire husband, broadcasting

pioneer Allan Slaight -- donated $12.5 million to Princess Margaret Hospital's

Breast Cancer Rapid Diagnosis program in an effort to reduce future patients'

wait times to just hours.

Since the fall of 2006, 550 have gone through the pilot-project clinic, the only

one of its kind in Canada.

In addition to a same-day diagnosis, patients receive an immediate treatment

plan, which could involve a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

" When you don't know what you're dealing with, it's like walking into a dark

room knowing something scary awaits you but not knowing what exactly it is, "

said Gattuso, who has been cancer-free for five years. " It could be something as

simple as a banana peel, or it could be a person with a loaded gun. The

rapid-diagnosis program is like turning on the light in that room. "

The centre was the brainchild of Princess Margaret oncologist Dr.

McCready, who noticed his patients were waiting about five weeks on average for

a diagnosis.

The key to the program's speedy diagnosis is a costly piece of equipment that

can prepare a sample of breast tissue for pathological analysis in just hours.

When Gattuso -- a patient of the renowned oncologist and Princess Margaret

breast cancer committee member -- got wind of the program, she set the wheels in

motion to make it a full-fledged clinic.

The entire expansion will cost $25 million.

Gattuso and Slaight are spearheading a campaign to raise the additional $12.5

million needed to bring the clinic to full capacity by 2013.

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