Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation CEO Barney Ellis-Perry addresses reporters at the recent cancer care announcement at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

fundraising campaign

Hospital foundation launches campaign for Nanaimo cancer diagnostic machine

Apr 21, 2024 | 9:43 AM

NANAIMO – With a business plan approved for a new cancer centre in Nanaimo, an effort has begun to acquire a new diagnosis machine.

Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation (NDHF) launched a campaign to raise $160,000 to fund a Mopec 400, a “grossing” instrument to allow for more examinations for early detection and treatment for cancers.

NDHF CEO Barney Ellis-Perry said the new cancer centre will need state-of-the-art equipment for our growing population.

“…it also allows us to be bringing in another pathologist so that we can speed up the whole process for everyone who’s involved,” Ellis-Perry said.

The Mopec 400 examines tissue biopsies, 70 per cent of which are in a lab to be assessed for suspected cancer cases, according go the NDHF.

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“This piece of equipment has actually been on the list but has not been funded for over 10 years and that’s why we’re going to the public for help,” Ellis-Perry said.

Donations to the campaign can be here.

In 2023 more than 3,600 people on central and north Vancouver Island received cancer diagnoses, according to the NDHF.

B.C.’s health minister Adrian Dix was in Nanaimo recently announcing a $289 million business case for a regional cancer centre had been approved.

Construction of the new cancer centre is expected to start at Nanaimo hospital next year and be completed in 2028.

The three-storey building will be located near the hospital’s front entrance off Dufferin Cres. will include the addition of radiation therapy and an expanded pharmacy.

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