St. John’s, NL (February 6, 2025) – Tony Wakeham, Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and MHA for Stephenville – Port au Port, today responded to a CBC story with an update on the cancer care unit at the new Corner Brook regional hospital.  Wakeham said it is discouraging and totally unacceptable that the new hospital is no closer to offering radiation therapy services than when it was first promised 10 years ago. 

Wakeham said the CBC story confirmed what he and other community advocates have said for months. 

“With key positions still unfilled, including radiation oncologists, radiotherapy and medical physicists, clearly there is still no commitment from the Furey Liberals for cancer care in the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital,” said Wakeham.

“It is appalling that seniors and other vulnerable cancer patients must travel across the island, often in poor weather, to receive radiation treatment when a brand-new cancer center sits empty. Even more alarming, the Furey Liberals seem to have abandoned any definitive timeline for the radiation facility to open,” added Wakeham.

Wakeman noted he has raised this issue in the House of Assembly on several occasions where the Liberals consistently repeated their hallow promises.

“It is ironic that one of Andrew Furey’s first photo-ops as Premier was signing the steel of the new Corner Brook hospital on October 16, 2020.  Instead of signing the steel beam, the Premier should have signed a contract with a radiation oncologist to ensure people in the region would get the cancer care they need, deserve, and were promised.”

Wakeham reiterated that poor planning by the Liberal Government has significantly impacted access to healthcare in the western region.

“The Furey Liberals tried to double up seniors in single occupancy rooms because they failed to build enough long-term care beds. And now we are seeing acute care patients in hallways in the new hospital because of a lack of beds while the old hospital sits empty.  None of this makes any sense and it demonstrates poor leadership.”

Wakeham said a PC Government led by him will do more than photo-ops.  “People are our priority, not photo-ops.  We will plan properly and deliver on the healthcare needs in the western region and in every other region of our province.  It all starts with a solid health human resources plan.  Proper planning is key in ensuring timely access to quality care – something the Liberal Government has failed to do,” concluded Wakeham.

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