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March 17, 2005
 The
NCRF launches the ‘Home Away From Home’ campaign
in support of the new TBay Tel Tamarack House.
The Regional Cancer Care Program and the Northern Cancer Research Foundation (NCRF) joined forces today to announce the opening of TBayTel Tamarack House at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC). In support of the new cancer patient hostel, the NCRF launched the ‘Home Away From Home’ fundraising campaign which will help offset the capital costs associated with the furniture, equipment and construction related fit up.
Replacing the Munro Street facility, the TBayTel Tamarack House becomes the new lodge for regional cancer patients and it spans the entire top floor of the newly constructed Medical Centre. It boasts more than 12,000 square feet, with comfortable lounges, an activity room, full kitchen, and twenty rooms with forty double beds and private washrooms, including two barrier free rooms for patients in wheelchairs. “When we were planning our move to our new site, we felt it was imperative to have an accessible lodge for our regional cancer patients,” stated Michael Power, Vice President of Regional Cancer and Diagnostic Imaging Services at the TBRHSC. “More than one-third of our 1400 new cancer patients each year come from regional communities in Northwestern Ontario. Many come for complex radiation therapy that requires stays in the community for up to six to eight weeks at a time. We now have a state-of-the-art patient hostel to complement our world class treatment centre.”
The TBayTel Tamarack House will provide many comforts of home for the patients and families using the cancer centre. There are laundry facilities, internet access, storage for food that patients have the option of bringing from home, planned activities, and a barbeque and balcony, all in a relaxing and bright atmosphere. “This new facility enables us to provide better services for our patients and their families,” said Dr. Scott Sellick, Director of Supportive and Palliative Care at the TBRHSC. “It is necessary for us to be able to provide not only physical treatment, but emotional and spiritual supports for these patients, and the proximity and comfort that TBayTel Tamarack House provides helps us address the needs of patients in a more timely fashion.”
The TBayTel Tamarack House is open to all cancer patients and their families who come to Thunder Bay from the region at no cost at all. There are thirteen partner sites in Northwestern Ontario, stretching from Hearst and White River to Kenora, who provide decentralized chemotherapy treatments in the region. “The Regional Cancer Advisory Council, affiliated with Cancer Care Ontario, was instituted in 1997 with the expressed goal of providing oversight assistance and guidance for the cancer control system in Northwestern Ontario,” said Allan Laakkonen, Chair of the Regional Cancer Advisory Council and Director on the board of Cancer Care Ontario. “The challenges of distance and access in our region adds to the challenges that the cancer patient already faces, and we worked very closely with the cancer centre in Thunder Bay to ensure that building this lodge would be a priority for those regional patients. The Cancer Act in Ontario states that cancer patients must have accessible accommodation to their treatment facility, and we are very pleased to have been involved in the planning for this beautiful new lodge.”
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, through the Regional Cancer Program, has partnered with the NCRF on this patient improvement initiative. The NCRF, as the fundraising arm of the cancer centre, is raising funds to help equip and furnish the new lodge. The NCRF created the ‘Home Away From Home’ campaign in support of the TBayTel Tamarack House. The regional campaign has been immeasurably enhanced by the enthusiasm and tireless efforts of numerous regional volunteers that worked closely with the campaign team. With an expressed goal of $500,000, the NCRF has now raised more than fifty percent of that goal and today officially launched the campaign in Thunder Bay. “We felt it was the right step to first introduce the Home Away From Home campaign for TBayTel Tamarack House outside of Thunder Bay, as this is a lodge for regional patients first and foremost,” said Brian McKinnon, Chair for the ‘Home Away from Home’ campaign, and NCRF board member. “We have been very pleased with the response so far and we are confident that we will achieve our goal. We particularly would like to thank TBayTel for their generous show of support and applaud the initiative they have taken with this expanded partnership.”
The NCRF is pleased to announce that TBayTel, a long-time community partner, has made the ‘lead gift’ to the campaign. This gift provides the opportunity for co-branding through a number of different mediums, including brochures, advertising, signs, and naming opportunities. “For any partnership that we enter into, we ensure that it is a good ‘fit’ for us and for the other company,” said Phil Comrie, President and CEO of TBayTel. “We understand that Northwestern Ontario needs all the connectivity and communication we can provide for it, whether through a system like ours or through a system like the cancer network across the region. Both organizations rely on intricate equipment and dedicated personnel, and depend upon the participation of the users. When we were approached by the NCRF to participate in their campaign, we felt that the support of the new lodge was a perfect fit for us, and we are happy to be a part of providing such excellent and beautiful accommodations for those people travelling the many miles across the region for cancer treatment in Thunder Bay.”
Click
here for additional information regarding TBay Tel Tamarack
House.
Supportive Care
(807) 684-7310
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