Wayne Cullingham and his wife Carol, right to left, were forced to move hundreds of kilometres from their home and family to Thunder Bay, Ont., so he could receive life-sustaining dialysis. Cullingham, 71, is among over a dozen people from the region who have to travel to Thunder Bay while waiting for a treatment spot to open up at a hospital closer to home.
Cullingham, 71, is one of 14 people forced to travel to Thunder Bay while waiting for a treatment spot to open up at a regional hospital closer to home. He said he has no idea how long he could be in Thunder Bay. She has an active social life back home, with a close circle of friends who first met in kindergarten and is a member of the tenants' association executive at her seniors' apartment block.
That includes costs related to her required relocation to Thunder Bay, things like gas, car maintenance and rent on her second apartment, Davis said. Davis wrote a letter to Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones, asking for the travel grant to be increased and, more importantlyly, for help to get home.
"When you're sick with renal failure or kidney failure, and you have to come all the way to a city where you might not have friends or family to support you, you're feeling unwell because of your illness and then you're receiving this new treatment … it's really brutal."The kidney care program in Thunder Bay was first set up in the 1960s, said Dr. Bill McCready. A retired nephrologist, McCready arrived to the city in the early 1980s to lead the fledgling program.
They did not provide a timeline when those expansions may happen, but a spokesperson with the Kenora hospital said they hope to hire additional staff by June to open two more treatment spots — which would equate to an additional eight patients who could be treated every week.
Those poor folks, Thunder Bay is the rectum of Ontario.
They are not 'forced to travel'. In Canada they can offer you the 'bye bye' pill. Simple easy, safe and effective. 😀😃😄😁😆🖕👌🙏🇷🇺
Why don’t these people do home dialysis? That’s been a thing in the US for several years.
I chose to live in Sioux Lookout and it has its limitations. There are many people who chose to live in towns with limited services. Otherwise they'd be called 'cities'.
Unacceptable. As an alternative, there are portable units (not cheap) that could be provided for as long as required. Don't tell me there's no money. The money we're paying for another's war is the money.
To live near adequate medical services, or not, is a choice we need to make as we get older.