The starting lineup has been announced for the northern cancer centre's team of specialists.
Construction on the BC Cancer Agency Centre for the North is not complete, and the agency has a lot of names left to add, but they revealed the set of key players they have signed on to lead the way.
"These are the real leaders," said Dr. Ivo Olivotto, the agency's provincial vice president for radiation therapy and functional imaging.
He was especially thrilled with the quality of candidates that threw their hats into the ring for the Prince George jobs.
"Two years ago there was all sorts of concern and pessimism. We heard a lot of: how could we possibly attract to Prince George the highly specialized staff required for a facility like this?" Olivotto said.
"One of the strategies that we used, and it has worked out very well, is highlighting that this is a great opportunity to be part of the startup of a new centre. Another thing we highlighted was the connections to academic opportunities, with partnerships like UNBC, the Northern Medical Program, Northern Health, the agency's own research."
Lifestyle was also an effective pitch thrown by the agency. The candidates came to the city and met with local doctors, representatives of the partner groups but also a real estate agent who gave them a lifestyle tour of the area.
"Those messages rang true," said Olivotto. "Not only were they hearing that from me, they saw for themselves that Prince George is not just somewhere to have a job."
The successful candidates will continue in their current jobs until early 2012. Many are already engaged with Prince George on medical visitations, and with patients from the north getting treatment in established BC Cancer Agency treatment centres. These patients would be among the most likely to have their treatments take place in Prince George when the cancer centre opens.
The new team joins the two already selected for the northern cancer centre: Dr. Robert Olson, the first radiation oncologist hired for the centre last fall, and Nathan Smela, a radiation therapy service technician hired this past spring.
"I have great confidence that these new radiation therapy staff will become a close team over the next year and that they will bring excellent expertise to the care of patients with cancer in the north," Olivotto said.
Other positions still to be recruited for the BC Cancer Agency Centre for the North include two additional medical oncologists, radiation therapists , nurses, social workers, clerks and pharmacists. Olivotto said the hiring process was still underway and they would likely be named sometime between January and June, depending on the position.
The radiation therapy leadership team:
* Dr. Narinder Sidhu, medical physics leader, was previously based in Saskatoon, working with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency as the provincial leader of medical physics for Saskatchewan.
* Dr. Dilip Panjwani, radiation oncologist and radiation therapy leader for the North, most recently worked at the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre in Kitchener, Ontario, as medical director for the centre's radiation treatment program.
* Dr. Matthew Follwell, radiation oncologist, completed his Radiation Oncology training through the University of Toronto in July 2010 and recently completed a one-year specialized Clinical Research Fellowship at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver Centre.
* Andrea Wolowski, director of clinical operations for radiation therapy, is a radiation therapist who grew up in Tumbler Ridge and has been working at the BC Cancer Agency Centre for the Southern Interior in Kelowna for the past decade.
"She's really looking forward to 'going home' and bringing her family along for that," said Olivotto. "She is moving there to make a life of it."
